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Molecular motors

New pieces for the Lis1–dynein puzzle

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From Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

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The microtubule motor dynein is regulated by lissencephaly-1 (Lis1) at several points during its complex activation process. Two papers reveal the molecular mechanism for two steps: the beginning, when Lis1 acts as a wedge to disrupt dynein’s autoinhibited conformation; and the end, when microtubule binding ejects Lis1 from the motor.

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Fig. 1: Schematic showing Lis1 activation of dynein.

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Acknowledgements

I thank K. Singh for comments during revision. C.K.L. receives funding from a Wellcome Trust Career Development Award (225292/Z/22/Z).

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Clinton K. Lau

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  1. Clinton K. Lau
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Correspondence to Clinton K. Lau.

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Lau, C.K. New pieces for the Lis1–dynein puzzle. Nat Struct Mol Biol 30, 1244–1246 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-01084-7

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