MECHANICS OF KINESIN--A MICROTUBULE BASED MOTOR PROTEIN

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The long-term objective of the proposed studies is to understand how motor proteins work. These enzymes, which include myosin from muscle, dynein from cilia and flagella, and kinesin from eukaryotic cells in general, convert the chemical energy contained in the gamma phosphate bond of ATP into mechanical work used to power intracellular transport. Several molecular models for force generation, most notably the crossbridge-cycle model, have been formulated based on ATPase assays, mechanical recordings from muscle, and structural studies. The strategy of this proposal is to directly test these models by using recently-developed, highly-sensitive physical techniques to measure force and displacement at the single-molecule level. Single kinesin molecules will be placed under various known loads by challenging each one to pull on a microtubule attached to a minute calibrated flexible glass fiber. The motion of the motor will be measured by imaging the tip of the fiber onto a photodiode detector with subnanometer precision and submillisecond time resolution. The mechanical performance of individual motors will be tested under a wide range of loads, ATP concentrations, and orientations. The mechanical components of the motor, including the elastic element posited by the crossbridge cycle model, will be characterized physically; and the change in strain in this elastic element, the powerstroke, will be measured. A crucial prediction of the crossbridge cycle model will be tested by comparing the single-motor force with the product of the elastic element's stiffness and the powerstroke distance. Using site-directed mutagenesis we hope to identify which amino acids form the various mechanical components, and propose to determine the role of kinesin's two heads. Lastly, by combining biochemical techniques with the newly developed optical tweezer technology, we propose to measure the distance moved per ATP hydrolyzed: the simplest version of the model predicts that this distance should equal the 8-nm step size. Because of the structural and biochemical similarities between kinesin, myosin, and dynein, the elucidation of the molecular events underlying energy transduction by kinesin should significantly increase the understanding of cellular motility in general. It is hoped that this understanding may lead to more rational treatments of muscle disorders such as heart disease, or to better methods of selectively interfering with pathological cellular movements such as the invasion and proliferation of tumor cells, and the transport of viruses between the cell membrane and the nucleus.