Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Characterizing the Composition of Molecular Motors on Moving Axonal Cargo Using "Cargo Mapping" Analysis
Published on: October 30, 2014
Microtubule motors at the intersection of trafficking and transport
Juliane P Caviston1, Erika L F Holzbaur
1Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, D400 Richards Building, 3700 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6085, USA.
Abstract:
Molecular motors drive the transport of vesicles and organelles within the cell. Traditionally, these transport processes have been considered separately from membrane trafficking events, such as regulated budding and fusion. However, recent progress has revealed mechanistic links that integrate these processes within the cell. Rab proteins, which function as key regulators of intracellular trafficking, have now been shown to recruit specific motors to organelle membranes. Rab-independent recruitment of motors by adaptor or scaffolding proteins is also a key mechanism. Once recruited to vesicles and organelles, these motors can then drive directed transport; this directed transport could in turn affect the efficiency of trafficking events. Here, we discuss this coordinated regulation of trafficking and transport, which provides a powerful mechanism for temporal and spatial control of cellular dynamics.
Related Concept Videos
Microtubule Associated Motor Proteins
The Movement of Organelles and Vesicles
Microtubules in Cell Motility
Microtubules in Cell Motility
Anaphase A and B
Plus-end depolymerization releases tubulin heterodimers from the terminal region of the microtubule. As tubulin subunits are lost, the Ndc80 complexes detach...
Microtubules
Microtubules have two structurally similar globular protein subunits: α and β tubulins. In the cytosol, the α and β tubulins form a heterodimer. These αβ-heterodimers...
