Kinesin-2s are major transporters of cellular cargoes. This subfamily contains both homodimeric kinesins whose catalytic domains result from the same gene product and heterodimeric kinesins with motor domains derived from two different gene products. In this Minireview, we focus on the progress to define the biochemical and biophysical properties of the kinesin-2 family members. Our understanding of their mechanochemical capabilities has been advanced by the ability to identify the kinesin-2 genes in multiple species, expression and purification of these motors for single-molecule and ensemble assays, and development of new technologies enabling quantitative measurements of kinesin activity with greater sensitivity.
Keywords: ATPase; cilia; cytoskeleton; intracellular trafficking; microtubule; molecular motor; motor protein; neuron; pre-steady-state kinetics; processivity; single-molecule biophysics; tubulin.
© 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.