Imaging of cytoplasmic dynein structural status

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K06147
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 43040:Biophysics-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Shima Tomohiro 東京大学, 大学院理学系研究科(理学部), 助教 (60631786)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 自己阻害 / 蛍光共鳴エネルギー移動 / 細胞内輸送

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The appropriate intracellular transport is crucial for many biological functions in eukaryotes. For this purpose, the motor activities of kinesins and cytoplasmic dynein, which are responsible for transporting cargoes in opposite directions on microtubules, need to be properly regulated. Recently, Recently, a model has been proposed for the regulation of dynein activity by changing the orientation of the two motor domains in a single dynein molecule, but this has not yet been directly tested. In this study, we developed a method to measure the distance and orientation between the two motor domains by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and obtained results suggesting that the distance between the motor domains varies with time and depends on the nucleotide state.

Free Research Field

生物物理

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

真核生物内でおこる多くの生命機能にとって、細胞内で物質が正しい方向へ輸送されることは非常に重要である。そのためには、微小管上においてそれぞれ逆方向への輸送を担っているキネシンと細胞質ダイニンの運動活性が適切に調節される必要がある。小胞の種類や輸送経路ごとに多種多様なキネシンが存在するのに対し、細胞質ダイニンは1種類でほぼすべての細胞質中での小胞輸送に対応しているため、細胞質ダイニンの活性調節が輸送方向決定の鍵を握ると考えられている。