Kinesin is a motor protein that moves cellular cargoes (vesicles, organelles) along microtubules. Although our knowledge about the structure and mechanochemistry of kinesin has made rapid progress in recent years, several issues have remained a matter of debate. They include the interaction between kinesin and tubulin, the mode of stepping along microtubules, the arrangement of kinesin on the microtubule surface, the conformation of kinesin motor domains in solution and on the microtubule, and the regulation of kinesin's motility by MAPs. We will address these questions by a combination of biochemical, electron microscopic and video microscopic methods, including single molecule observation, using a variety of recombinant kinesin proteins.
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