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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Single-Molecule Analysis of Sf9 Purified Superprocessive Kinesin-3 Family Motors
Published on: July 27, 2022
In vitro and in vivo analysis of microtubule-destabilizing kinesins
Jason Stumpff1, Jeremy Cooper, Sarah Domnitz
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
Abstract:
Cellular microtubules are rigid in comparison to other cytoskeletal elements (1,2). To facilitate cytoplasmic remodeling and timely responses to cell signaling events, microtubules depolymerize and repolymerize rapidly at their ends (3). These dynamic properties are critically important for many cellular functions, such as spindle assembly, the capture and segregation of chromosomes during cell division and cell motility. Microtubule dynamics are spatially and temporally controlled in the cell by accessory proteins. Molecular motor proteins of the kinesin superfamily that act to destabilize microtubules play important roles in this regulation (4).
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