Wednesday, 26 May, 2010

Speedy couriers in the cell

Why motor proteins have brakes

 

© A. Battenberg, TUM

Every single one of our cells contains so-called motor proteins that transport important substances from one location to another. However, very little is known about how exactly these transport processes occur. Biophysicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) and Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen (LMU) have now succeeded in explaining fundamental functions of a particularly interesting motor protein. They report their findings in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).

Press information TUM (english)
Presseinformation der TUM (deutsch)
Publication "Regulation of a heterodimeric kinesin-2 through an unprocessive motor domain that is turned processive by its partner"