Biologist Modifies Theory Of Cells' Engines Dec 15, 2008
She created fruit-fly eggs lacking a type of molecular motor called kinesin and found that certain organelles stopped moving strong evidence that kinesin is responsible for their transport. Tran then made another type of mutant eggs, this time ones that produced only about half the number of kinesin motors of a regular egg ... Welte needed to know if this equality was because the normal egg was simply utilizing only half the available kinesin motors, or if some master regulator was controlling... (Science Daily)
How Tiny Cell Proteins Generate Force To 'Walk' Dec 5, 2008
Kinesin, a motor protein that also carries neurotransmitters, "walks" along cellular beams known as microtubules. For the first time, the MIT team has shown at a molecular level how kinesin generates the force needed to step along the microtubules ... Because kinesin is involved in organizing the machinery of cell division, understanding how it works could one day be useful in developing therapies for diseases involving out-of-control cell division, such as cancer. (Science Daily)
NYP/Columbia physician-scientists present at ASCO 44th annual meeting May 31, 2008
Kinesin Spindle Protein (KSP) for Hodgkin's Lymphoma ... A Phase 1 dose-escalation trial of Kinesin Spindle Protein (KSP), a drug that targets a unique aspect of cancer cell division, has been found to be well tolerated and active in select patients with Hodgkin's disease. (EurekAlert!)
Spotlight On A Key Player In The Dance Of Chromosomes May 16, 2008
CENP-E is part of a large class of proteins called kinesins ... The motion of normal kinesin, kinesin-1, is now well known, Selvin said ... I was interested to know whether the normal rules of how kinesin walks apply to these different kinds of kinesins. (Science Daily)
Alzheimer's molecule is a smart speed bump on the nerve-cell transport highway Jan 18, 2008
Differential regulation of dynein and kinesin motor proteins by the microtubule associated protein tau ... Dynein and kinesin proteins transport cellular cargo towards opposite ends of tracks called microtubules ... The transport performed by dynein and kinesin is required for continuously providing new proteins to the axon and synapse to maintain normal cellular function, and is also required to remove old, misfolded, or aggregated proteins for degradation. (EurekAlert!)
Protein-dependent 'Switch' Regulates Intracellular Trafficking In Epithelial Cells Dec 17, 2007
Specifically, the team has discovered a molecular "switch" in developed epithelial cells that selects from a large family of "motor proteins," called kinesins. Each kinesin facilitates the transport of specific surface markers from production sites inside the cell to their ultimate home on the cell's surface ... "Not only are many more kinesins present in cells than previously thought, but their selectivity helps direct which packages of surface proteins are transported, as well as their... (Science Daily)
Molecular Motors And Brakes Work Together In Cells Feb 1, 2007
Green represents the molecular motors, the kinesin proteins klp2, on each microtubule. (Image Credit: Phong Tran, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine). (Science Daily)
Molecule Walks In A Straight Line And Carries A Tiny Shopping Bag In Each Hand Jan 23, 2007
(December 8, 2003) -- Biophysicists at Stanford University have finally answered one of the most fundamental questions in molecular biology: How does the tiny motor molecule, known as kinesin, move across a living. . (Science Daily)
