A plant calmodulin-binding motor is part kinesin and part myosin

A plant calmodulin-binding motor is part kinesin and part myosin

Kinesins and myosins are molecular motors that move on microtubules and actin filaments, respectively. These motor proteins are involved in a variety of cellular processes such as intracellular transport, spindle formation and chromosome segregation in eukaryotes (Langford, 1995; Hirokawa, 1998). Although kinesins and myosins hydrolyze ATP to generate force for their movement on cytoskeletal fi...

A novel plant calmodulin-binding protein with a kinesin heavy chain motor domain.

Calmodulin, a ubiquitous calcium-binding protein, regulates many diverse cellular functions by modulating the activity of the proteins that interact with it. Here, we report isolation of a cDNA encoding a novel kinesin-like calmodulin-binding protein (KCBP) from Arabidopsis using biotinylated calmodulin as a probe. Calcium-dependent binding of the cDNA-encoded protein to calmodulin is confirmed...

A plant kinesin heavy chain-like protein is a calmodulin-binding protein.

Calmodulin, a calcium modulated protein, regulates the activity of several proteins that control cellular functions. A cDNA encoding a unique calmodulin-binding protein, PKCBP, was isolated from a potato expression library using protein-protein interaction based screening. The cDNA encoded protein bound to biotinylated calmodulin and 35S-labeled calmodulin in the presence of calcium and failed ...

Cellular regulators. Part A. Calcium- and calmodulin-binding proteins.

Motor Proteins: Kinesin Can Replace Myosin

Directional transport of specific cargos is tuned to specific molecular motors and specific cytoskeletal tracks. Myosin V transports its cargo on actin cables, whereas kinesin or dynein transport their cargo on microtubules. A recent study shows that an engineered kinesin can substitute for myosin V and its cargo-specific transport and subsequent cellular functions.