Mixing OSM-3 and kinesin-II produces motoring speeds between the speeds of either motor alone.

Two kinesin-2 motors, OSM-3 and kinesin-II, drive the intraflagellar transport (IFT) of cargo toward the tips of cilia. Although OSM-3 is quicker than kinesin-II, Pan et al. (page 1035) show that these motors cooperate to move things together. In a related paper, Imanishi et al. (page 931) find that OSM-3 folds up to slow down.

OSM-3 moves at approximately twice the speed of kinesin-II. Pan et al. found that, when mixed together in an in vitro microtubule gliding assay, both motors moved at an intermediate speed, suggesting that they work together rather than independently to pull cargo along microtubules.

Mathematical modeling suggested that, to produce an overall intermediate speed, the motors either take turns pulling a cargo or work in a concerted but competitive fashion, with OSM-3 hurrying kinesin-II...

The Rockefeller University Press
2006
The Rockefeller University Press
2006
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