Coordination of opposite-polarity microtubule motors Export

@article{citeulike:5441360, abstract = {Many cargoes move bidirectionally, frequently reversing course between plus- and minus-end microtubule travel. For such cargoes, the extent and importance of interactions between the opposite-polarity motors is unknown. In this paper we test whether opposite-polarity motors on lipid droplets in Drosophila embryos are coordinated and avoid interfering with each other's activity, or whether they engage in a tug of war. To this end we impaired the minus-end transport machinery using dynein and dynactin mutations, and then investigated whether plus-end motion was improved or disrupted. We observe a surprisingly severe impairment of plus-end motion due to these alterations of minus-end motor activity. These observations are consistent with a coordination hypothesis, but cannot be easily explained with a tug of war model. Our measurements indicate that dynactin plays a crucial role in the coordination of plus- and minus-end-directed motors. Specifically, we propose that dynactin enables dynein to participate efficiently in bidirectional transport, increasing its ability to stay "on" during minus-end motion and keeping it "off" during plus-end motion. 10.1083/jcb.200109047}, author = {Gross, Steven P. and Welte, Michael A. and Block, Steven M. and Wieschaus, Eric F.}, citeulike-article-id = {5441360}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200109047}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://jcb.rupress.org/cgi/content/abstract/156/4/715}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11854311}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=11854311}, day = {28}, doi = {10.1083/jcb.200109047}, journal = {J. Cell Biol.}, keywords = {bidirectional, coupling, microtubules, motor, proteins}, month = {February}, number = {4}, pages = {715--724}, posted-at = {2009-08-14 23:05:36}, priority = {3}, title = {Coordination of opposite-polarity microtubule motors}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200109047}, volume = {156}, year = {2002} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5441360 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5441360 N2 - Many cargoes move bidirectionally, frequently reversing course between plus- and minus-end microtubule travel. For such cargoes, the extent and importance of interactions between the opposite-polarity motors is unknown. In this paper we test whether opposite-polarity motors on lipid droplets in Drosophila embryos are coordinated and avoid interfering with each other's activity, or whether they engage in a tug of war. To this end we impaired the minus-end transport machinery using dynein and dynactin mutations, and then investigated whether plus-end motion was improved or disrupted. We observe a surprisingly severe impairment of plus-end motion due to these alterations of minus-end motor activity. These observations are consistent with a coordination hypothesis, but cannot be easily explained with a tug of war model. Our measurements indicate that dynactin plays a crucial role in the coordination of plus- and minus-end-directed motors. Specifically, we propose that dynactin enables dynein to participate efficiently in bidirectional transport, increasing its ability to stay "on" during minus-end motion and keeping it "off" during plus-end motion. 10.1083/jcb.200109047 IS - 4 JF - J. Cell Biol. EP - 724 TI - Coordination of opposite-polarity microtubule motors VL - 156 SP - 715 KW - bidirectional KW - coupling KW - microtubules KW - motor KW - proteins AU - Gross, Steven AU - Welte, Michael AU - Block, Steven AU - Wieschaus, Eric PY - 2002/02/28/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200109047 ER -