Probing Mitotic CENP-E Kinesin with the Tethered Cargo Motion Assay and Laser Tweezersстатья
Статья опубликована в высокорейтинговом журнале
Информация о цитировании статьи получена из
Web of Science,
Scopus
Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 10 августа 2018 г.
Аннотация:Coiled-coil stalks of various kinesins differ significantly in predicted length and structure; this is an adaption that
helps these motors carry out their specialized functions. However, little is known about the dynamic stalk configuration in moving
motors. To gain insight into the conformational properties of the transporting motors, we developed a theoretical model to predict
Brownian motion of a microbead tethered to the tail of a single, freely walking molecule. This approach, which we call the
tethered cargo motion (TCM) assay, provides an accurate measure of the mechanical properties of motor-cargo tethering, verified
using kinesin-1 conjugated to a microbead via DNA links in vitro. Applying the TCM assay to the mitotic kinesin CENP-E
unexpectedly revealed that when walking along a microtubule track, this highly elongated molecule with a contour length of
230 nm formed a 20-nm-long tether. The stalk of a walking CENP-E could not be extended fully by application of sideways force
with optical tweezers (up to 4 pN), implying that CENP-E carries its cargo in a compact configuration. Assisting force applied
along the microtubule track accelerates CENP-E walking, but this increase does not depend on the presence of the CENP-E
stalk. Our results suggest that the unusually large stalk of CENP-E has little role in regulating its function as a transporter.
The adjustable stalk configuration may represent a regulatory mechanism for controlling the physical reach between
kinetochore-bound CENP-E and spindle microtubules, or it may assist localizing various kinetochore regulators in the immediate
vicinity of the kinetochore-embedded microtubule ends. The TCM assay and underlying theoretical framework will provide a
general guide for determining the dynamic configurations of various molecular motors moving along their tracks, freely or under
force