Dynein

Dyneins are motor proteins that use ATP to move along microtubules, usually toward their minus ends. They transport cellular cargo and generate force in cilia and flagella.

Microtubule: A hollow cytoskeletal polymer assembled from tubulin subunits, with distinct plus and minus ends. Dynein walks along these polarized tracks, usually toward their minus ends.
Tubulin: A family of proteins whose alpha and beta forms assemble into microtubules. Tubulin subunits build the tracks dynein recognizes and traverses.
Intracellular transport: The movement of molecules and organelles within a cell, often along cytoskeletal tracks. Dynein is a major motor for moving cargo through the cytoplasm.
Ian Gibbons: A British cell biologist who identified dynein as an ATPase associated with cilia. His work established dynein as the motor responsible for ciliary movement.
ATP hydrolysis: The chemical breakdown of adenosine triphosphate into adenosine diphosphate and inorganic phosphate. Dynein’s ATPase cycle drives changes that produce movement along microtubules.
Microtubule polarity: The structural orientation of a microtubule, which gives it distinct plus and minus ends. Polarity defines the direction meant by dynein’s usual minus-end movement.
Retrograde axonal transport: The movement of materials from neuronal axon terminals toward the cell body. Dynein carries signaling endosomes and other cargo toward neuronal cell bodies.
Ronald Vale: An American cell biologist known for discoveries about molecular motors and intracellular transport. His laboratory helped characterize microtubule-based motor movement, including dynein.
Dynein motor domain: The ATP-hydrolyzing region of dynein that binds microtubules and generates movement. This region couples ATP turnover to changes in microtubule affinity and force.
Cytoplasmic dynein 1: The widely expressed cytoplasmic dynein complex responsible for much intracellular transport in animal cells. It is the principal dynein involved in moving diverse cargo through the cytoplasm.

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