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Updated: Oct 30, 2025

Motility of Single Molecules and Clusters of Bi-Directional Kinesin-5 Cin8 Purified from S. cerevisiae Cells
Published on: February 2, 2022
Mechanisms by Which Kinesin-5 Motors Perform Their Multiple Intracellular Functions
Himanshu Pandey1, Mary Popov1, Alina Goldstein-Levitin1
1Department of Chemistry and Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
Abstract:
Bipolar kinesin-5 motor proteins perform multiple intracellular functions, mainly during mitotic cell division. Their specialized structural characteristics enable these motors to perform their essential functions by crosslinking and sliding apart antiparallel microtubules (MTs). In this review, we discuss the specialized structural features of kinesin-5 motors, and the mechanisms by which these features relate to kinesin-5 functions and motile properties. In addition, we discuss the multiple roles of the kinesin-5 motors in dividing as well as in non-dividing cells, and examine their roles in pathogenetic conditions. We describe the recently discovered bidirectional motility in fungi kinesin-5 motors, and discuss its possible physiological relevance. Finally, we also focus on the multiple mechanisms of regulation of these unique motor proteins.
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