Description
Dyneins are biological molecular motors that move along microtubules and drive a surprisingly wide range of essential cellular processes such as beating of cilia and flagella, vesicular transport and mitosis. Although the protein was discovered nearly half a century ago, research into its complex array of interactions began quite slowly but has progressed with steadily increasing success. Current understanding of dynein’s mechanism and functional roles have reached a high level and new avenues have been opened up, ready for deeper investigation in this very active field. This book draws together the impressive amount of information now available on both cytoplasmic and flagellar dyneins and the proteins they directly interact with, combining data obtained with a range of biophysical, biochemical and cell biological methods. The chapters are each written by an active researcher. Some cover structural information gained by X-ray crystallography, by nuclear magnetic resonance or by electron microscopy and image processing, including cryo-tomography. Others describe mechanistic details obtained by single-molecule nanometry, by studying the motility of reconstituted complexes in vitro or by studying mutant organisms in vivo. Improvements in techniques, such as the preparation of recombinant heavy chains or individual sub-domains, have played an important part in recent advances, so most chapters include up-to-date information on the methods currently used. This handbook will be useful for frontline researchers as well as for advanced students studying cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology.
