The Kinesin 8 Family are a subfamily of the molecular
motor proteins
Motor proteins are a class of molecular motors that can move along the cytoplasm of cells. They convert chemical energy into mechanical work by the hydrolysis of ATP. Flagellar rotation, however, is powered by a proton pump.
Cellular function ...
known as
kinesin
A kinesin is a protein belonging to a class of motor proteins found in eukaryotic cells.
Kinesins move along microtubule (MT) filaments and are powered by the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (thus kinesins are ATPases, a type of enzy ...
s. Most kinesins transport materials or cargo around the cell while traversing along
microtubule polymer
A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part")
is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...
tracks with the help of
ATP-hydrolysis-created energy. The Kinesin 8 family has been shown to play an important role in chromosome alignment during
mitosis. Kinesin 8 family members
KIF18A in humans
and Kip3 in yeast
have been shown to be ''in vivo'' plus-end directed
microtubule depolymerizers. During
prometaphase
Prometaphase is the phase of mitosis following prophase and preceding metaphase, in eukaryote, eukaryotic Somatic (biology), somatic Cell (biology), cells. In prometaphase, the nuclear membrane breaks apart into numerous "membrane vesicles", ...
of
mitosis, the microtubules attach to the kinetochores of
sister chromatids
A sister chromatid refers to the identical copies (chromatids) formed by the DNA replication of a chromosome, with both copies joined together by a common centromere. In other words, a sister chromatid may also be said to be 'one-half' of the dup ...
. Kinesin 8 is thought to play some role in this process, as knockdown of this protein via
siRNA
Small interfering RNA (siRNA), sometimes known as short interfering RNA or silencing RNA, is a class of double-stranded RNA at first non-coding RNA molecules, typically 20-24 (normally 21) base pairs in length, similar to miRNA, and operating ...
produces a phenotype of sister chromatids that are unable to align properly.
References
{{reflist
External links
Video Illustrations of Kinesin 8 depletion
Motor proteins