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J. Cell Biol.,
Volume 145, Number 3, May 3, 1999 469-479


* Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program; Neurons use kinesin and dynein microtubule-dependent motor proteins to transport essential
cellular components along axonal and dendritic microtubules. In a search for new kinesin-like proteins, we
identified two neuronally enriched mouse kinesins that
provide insight into a unique intracellular kinesin targeting mechanism in neurons. KIF21A and KIF21B
share colinear amino acid similarity to each other, but
not to any previously identified kinesins outside of the
motor domain. Each protein also contains a domain of
seven WD-40 repeats, which may be involved in binding
to cargoes. Despite the amino acid sequence similarity
between KIF21A and KIF21B, these proteins localize
differently to dendrites and axons. KIF21A protein is
localized throughout neurons, while KIF21B protein is
highly enriched in dendrites. The plus end-directed motor activity of KIF21B and its enrichment in dendrites
indicate that models suggesting that minus end-directed
motor activity is sufficient for dendrite specific motor
localization are inadequate. We suggest that a novel kinesin sorting mechanism is used by neurons to localize KIF21B protein to dendrites since its mRNA is restricted to the cell body.
Neurosciences Graduate Program; and § Howard Hughes Medical Institute,
Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla,
California 92093-0683
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