Kinesin

Kinesins are motor proteins that use ATP to move along microtubules, transporting cargo or, in some cases, sliding microtubules against one another.

Microtubule: A hollow cytoskeletal tube built from tubulin subunits, with structurally distinct plus and minus ends. Its polarity gives many kinesins a preferred direction of travel.
Axonal transport: The movement of organelles, proteins, and other materials along neuronal axons. Kinesins carry many materials from neuronal cell bodies toward axon terminals.
Tubulin: A family of proteins that assemble into microtubules, chiefly as alpha- and beta-tubulin dimers. Alternating tubulin subunits form the track kinesin grips.
Cytoplasmic dynein: A large motor complex that transports many cargos toward microtubule minus ends in animal cells. It often carries cargo in the direction opposite to kinesin-1.
ATP hydrolysis: The chemical breakdown of adenosine triphosphate into adenosine diphosphate and inorganic phosphate, releasing usable free energy. Kinesin couples this reaction to changes in its motor domains.
Intracellular transport: The directed movement of molecules and organelles within a cell. Kinesin is one of the principal motors driving this cellular logistics system.
Motor protein: A protein that converts chemical energy into directed movement or mechanical force. Kinesin belongs to this broader class of molecular machines.
Myosin: A family of motor proteins that move along actin filaments using ATP. Myosins use a different cytoskeletal track from kinesins.
Kinesin walking mechanism: The coordinated stepping of kinesin motor domains along successive tubulin binding sites. It explains how alternating head attachment produces forward motion.
Mitotic spindle: A microtubule-based structure that segregates duplicated chromosomes during cell division. Kinesins slide and organize spindle microtubules during chromosome separation.

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