All Outputs (16)

Living cells as a biological analog of optical tweezers – a non-invasive microrheology approach (2023)
Journal Article

Microrheology, the study of fluids on micron length-scales, promises to reveal insights into cellular biology, including mechanical biomarkers of disease and the interplay between biomechanics and cellular function. Here a minimally-invasive passive... Read More about Living cells as a biological analog of optical tweezers – a non-invasive microrheology approach.

A synthetic ancestral kinesin-13 depolymerizes microtubules faster than any natural depolymerizing kinesin (2022)
Journal Article

The activity of a kinesin is largely determined by the approximately 350 residue motor domain, and this region alone is sufficient to classify a kinesin as a member of a particular family. The kinesin-13 family are a group of microtubule depolymerizi... Read More about A synthetic ancestral kinesin-13 depolymerizes microtubules faster than any natural depolymerizing kinesin.

Picosecond ultrasonics for elasticity-based imaging and characterization of biological cells (2020)
Journal Article

© 2020 Author(s). Characterization of the elasticity of biological cells is growing as a new way to gain insight into cell biology. Cell mechanics are related to most aspects of cellular behavior, and applications in research and medicine are broad.... Read More about Picosecond ultrasonics for elasticity-based imaging and characterization of biological cells.

Efa6 protects axons and regulates their growth and branching by inhibiting microtubule polymerisation at the cortex (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019, Qu et al. Cortical collapse factors affect microtubule (MT) dynamics at the plasma membrane. They play important roles in neurons, as suggested by inhibition of axon growth and regeneration through the ARF activator Efa6 in C. elegans, and by... Read More about Efa6 protects axons and regulates their growth and branching by inhibiting microtubule polymerisation at the cortex.

Author response: Efa6 protects axons and regulates their growth and branching by inhibiting microtubule polymerisation at the cortex (2019)
Other

Identification of key residues that regulate the interaction of kinesins with microtubule ends (2019)
Journal Article

Kinesins are molecular motors that use energy derived from ATP turnover to walk along microtubules, or when at the microtubule end, regulate growth or shrinkage. All kinesins that regulate microtubule dynamics have long residence times at microtubule... Read More about Identification of key residues that regulate the interaction of kinesins with microtubule ends.

Parts list for a microtubule depolymerising kinesin (2018)
Journal Article

The Kinesin superfamily is a large group of molecular motors that use the turnover of ATP to regulate their interaction with the microtubule cytoskeleton. The coupled relationship between nucleotide turnover and microtubule binding is harnessed in va... Read More about Parts list for a microtubule depolymerising kinesin.

Not just a pretty cargo carrier: The other face of kinesins (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 Biochemical Society. If you've only ever heard of one kinesin, it's likely to be one that walks along microtubules and carries cargo around in the cell. However, this type of kinesin is only part of the kinesin story. The 'kinesin superfamily'... Read More about Not just a pretty cargo carrier: The other face of kinesins.

A Cdk1 phosphomimic mutant of MCAK impairs microtubule end recognition (2017)
Journal Article

The microtubule depolymerising kinesin-13, MCAK, is phosphorylated at residue T537 by Cdk1. This is the only known phosphorylation site within MCAK’s motor domain. To understand the impact of phosphorylation by Cdk1 on microtubule depolymerisation ac... Read More about A Cdk1 phosphomimic mutant of MCAK impairs microtubule end recognition.

A Cdk1 phosphomimic mutant of MCAK impairs microtubule end recognition (2017)
Other

The microtubule depolymerising kinesin-13, MCAK, is phosphorylated at residue T537 by Cdk1. This is the only known phosphorylation site within MCAK’s motor domain. To understand the impact of phosphorylation by Cdk1 microtubule depolymerisation activ... Read More about A Cdk1 phosphomimic mutant of MCAK impairs microtubule end recognition.

The family-specific ?4-helix of the kinesin-13, MCAK, is critical to microtubule end recognition (2016)
Journal Article

Kinesins that influence the dynamics of microtubule growth and shrinkage require the ability to distinguish between the microtubule end and the microtubule lattice. The microtubule depolymerizing kinesin MCAK has been shown to specifically recognize... Read More about The family-specific ?4-helix of the kinesin-13, MCAK, is critical to microtubule end recognition.

Use of stopped-flow fluorescence and labeled nucleotides to analyze the ATP turnover cycle of kinesins (2014)
Journal Article

Polo-like kinase 1 regulates the stability of the mitotic centromere-associated kinesin in mitosis (2014)
Journal Article

Proper bi-orientation of chromosomes is critical for the accurate segregation of chromosomes in mitosis. A key regulator of this process is MCAK, the mitotic centromere-associated kinesin. During mitosis the activity and localization of MCAK are regu... Read More about Polo-like kinase 1 regulates the stability of the mitotic centromere-associated kinesin in mitosis.

Coupling of kinesin ATP turnover to translocation and microtubule regulation: One engine, many machines (2012)
Journal Article

The cycle of ATP turnover is integral to the action of motor proteins. Here we discuss how variation in this cycle leads to variation of function observed amongst members of the kinesin superfamily of microtubule associated motor proteins. Variation... Read More about Coupling of kinesin ATP turnover to translocation and microtubule regulation: One engine, many machines.

Mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK): a potential cancer drug target (2011)
Journal Article

The inability to faithfully segregate chromosomes in mitosis results in chromosome instability, a hallmark of solid tumors. Disruption of microtubule dynamics contributes highly to mitotic chromosome instability. The kinesin-13 family is critical in... Read More about Mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK): a potential cancer drug target.

The kinesin-13 MCAK has an unconventional ATPase cycle adapted for microtubule depolymerization (2011)
Journal Article

Unlike other kinesins, members of the kinesin-13 subfamily do not move directionally along microtubules but, instead, depolymerize them. To understand how kinesins with structurally similar motor domains can have such dissimilar functions, we elucida... Read More about The kinesin-13 MCAK has an unconventional ATPase cycle adapted for microtubule depolymerization.