'Enchanted Broomstick' Protein Walks on Two Stubby Legs to Keep Our Nerve Cells Alive
How Cell’s Special-Delivery Motor Turns On and Off Could Point Toward Treatments for Devastating Brain Diseases
A nerve cell resembles a vast tree with branches that communicate with thousands of other cells. To function, it depends on a motor protein that walks on two legs, hauling urgent cargo from the center of the cell to the faraway tips of every branch. Scientists have unveiled a new structure of this walking protein, showing how cells control it.
“This is the pinnacle of understanding how cells can turn on motors, precisely, to go to different places at different times,” said lead author Jawdat Al-Bassam, an associate professor of molecular and cellular biology at UC Davis.
The kinesin-1 protein is crucial to nerves. If it malfunctions, brain cells can no longer send packages of neurotransmitters and other cargo to where they are needed. Cells sicken and die, triggering diseases that cause paralysis, seizures, and cognitive deficits.