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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Characterizing the Composition of Molecular Motors on Moving Axonal Cargo Using "Cargo Mapping" Analysis
Published on: October 30, 2014
Determinants of molecular motor directionality
1Department of Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA. endow@abacus.mc.duke.edu
Abstract:
Work over the past two years has led to a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular basis of the directionality of the kinesin motor proteins. This breakthrough has come first from the reversal of directionality of the kinesin-related motor Ncd, followed closely by the reversal of kinesin's directionality and the finding that the Ncd 'neck' can convert Ncd or kinesin, which are intrinsically plus-end-directed microtubule motors, into a minus-end motor. These findings raise several outstanding questions, foremost, how does the neck function in motor directionality?
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