Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, 07103, USA.
Arch Biochem Biophys. 2012 Apr 1;520(1):17-29. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2011.12.029. Epub 2012 Jan 28.
With the functional characterization of proteins advancing at fast pace, the notion that one protein performs different functions - often with no relation to each other - emerges as a novel principle of how cells work. Molecular motors are no exception to this new development. Here, we provide an account on recent findings revealing that microtubule motors are multifunctional proteins that regulate many cellular processes, in addition to their main function in transport. Some of these functions rely on their motor activity, but others are independent of it. Of the first category, we focus on the role of microtubule motors in organelle biogenesis, and in the remodeling of the cytoskeleton, especially through the regulation of microtubule dynamics. Of the second category, we discuss the function of microtubule motors as static anchors of the cargo at the destination, and their participation in regulating signaling cascades by modulating interactions between signaling proteins, including transcription factors. We also review atypical forms of transport, such as the cytoplasmic streaming in the oocyte, and the movement of cargo by microtubule fluctuations. Our goal is to provide an overview of these unexpected functions of microtubule motors, and to incite future research in this expanding field.
随着蛋白质功能特性的快速发展，一种蛋白质具有不同功能的观点——这些功能通常彼此之间没有关联——作为细胞工作的新原则出现了。分子马达也不例外。在这里，我们介绍了最近的发现，这些发现揭示了微管马达是多功能蛋白质，除了在运输中的主要功能外，还调节许多细胞过程。其中一些功能依赖于它们的马达活动，但其他功能则不依赖于马达活动。在第一类中，我们重点介绍微管马达在细胞器发生和细胞骨架重塑中的作用，特别是通过调节微管动力学。在第二类中，我们讨论了微管马达作为货物在目的地的静态锚的功能，以及它们通过调节包括转录因子在内的信号蛋白之间的相互作用来参与调节信号级联的功能。我们还回顾了非典型的运输形式，如卵母细胞中的细胞质流动，以及微管波动引起的货物运动。我们的目标是提供对这些微管马达意想不到的功能的概述，并激发该不断扩展的领域的未来研究。
