Why Kinesin is Better Than Those Other Proteins?

Kinesin's Main Purpose
     
       Kinesin is an amazing protein! It transports molecules and organelles throughout the cell by walking (that's right walking?!?!) across microtubules within the cell. Did you think everything in the cell just knew where to go on it's own? No way! Without kinesin, organelles (including peroxisomes, mitochondria, and lysosomes) and vesicles wouldn't be transported to their proper locations when they tried to work their way through the cytoplasm. They'd be lost and the cell wouldn't be able to function properly. That's kind of a problem. Lucky for you, the cells do have kinesin!

Other Functions of Kinesin

        Kinesin doesn't just function in transporting organelles and molecules throughout the cell though. Ohhhh no. It also helps in the process of mitosis. Kinesin anchors itself to the chromosomes and connects them to the microtubules made by the spindles. These kinesin proteins then move down the microtubules and start to pull them apart. Kinesin is what allows the chromosomes to split huh? I wonder if we would be able to create new cells without kinesin then? Probably not. Just another reason kinesin is pretty awesome. 

        

      Now that we know the awesome things kinesin does, look at it's awesome symmetry! It has two motor motor domains and a tail.  The motor domains are the "feet" that move across the microtubule. The tail is what totes along the molecule or organelle that needs to get moved around the cell, through the cytoplasm. The structure of kinesin is simple, but efficient. What more could you ask for?

         Here's a video of kinesin doing it's thing! Isn't it awesome?? (I know you're stubborn, but admit it. It's pretty stinkin' cool.) : 

After watching this video and thinking about its importance to the cell, it's hard to dispute that kinesin isn't one cool protein. Kinesin helps make sure things in the cell get where they need to go, and it does so in an interesting way. This is why kinesin is better than those other proteins. 

Sources:

http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/files/3kin.pdb

http://www.mpasmb-hamburg.mpg.de/mand-pdf/Mandelkow_Mandelkow_2002_TCB.pdf

http://www.cellbio.duke.edu/kinesin/MTdisassembly.html

http://www.cellbio.duke.edu/kinesin/KinesinFunctionLinks.html

For Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-uuk4Pr2i8

Structural image made on pymol with PDB file:

http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/files/3kin.pdb 

Sequence: >3KIN:A|PDBID|CHAIN|SEQUENCE

ADPAECSIKVMCRFRPLNEAEILRGDKFIPKFKGEETVVIGQGKPYVFDRVLPPNTTQEQVYNACAKQIVKDVLEGYNGT
IFAYGQTSSGKTHTMEGKLHDPQLMGIIPRIAHDIFDHIYSMDENLEFHIKVSYFEIYLDKIRDLLDVSKTNLAVHEDKN
RVPYVKGCTERFVSSPEEVMDVIDEGKANRHVAVTNMNEHSSRSHSIFLINIKQENVETEKKLSGKLYLVDLAGSEKV
>3KIN:B|PDBID|CHAIN|SEQUENCE
NKSLSALGNVISALAEGTKTHVPYRDSKMTRILQDSLGGNCRTTIVICCSPSVFNEAETKSTLMFGQRAKTIKNTVSVNL
ELTAEEWKKKYEKEKEKNKALKSVIQHLEVELNRWRN
>3KIN:C|PDBID|CHAIN|SEQUENCE
ADPAECSIKVMCRFRPLNEAEILRGDKFIPKFKGEETVVIGQGKPYVFDRVLPPNTTQEQVYNACAKQIVKDVLEGYNGT
IFAYGQTSSGKTHTMEGKLHDPQLMGIIPRIAHDIFDHIYSMDENLEFHIKVSYFEIYLDKIRDLLDVSKTNLAVHEDKN
RVPYVKGCTERFVSSPEEVMDVIDEGKANRHVAVTNMNEHSSRSHSIFLINIKQENVETEKKLSGKLYLVDLAGSEKV
>3KIN:D|PDBID|CHAIN|SEQUENCE
NKSLSALGNVISALAEGTKTHVPYRDSKMTRILQDSLGGNCRTTIVICCSPSVFNEAETKSTLMFGQRAKTIKNTVSVNL
ELTAEEWKKKYEKEKEKNKALKSVIQHLEVELNRWRN