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Kinesins and Cancer pp 77–86Cite as

Kif15: A Useful Target for Anti-cancer Therapy?

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Abstract

Kif15 (kinesin-12) was discovered a decade ago as a kinesin motor involved in bipolar spindle assembly. Although its exact molecular function is still under debate, data from recent studies indicate that Kif15 cooperates with Eg5 (kinesin-5) to promote centrosome separation and bipolar spindle assembly. Due to the essential function of Eg5 in bipolar spindle assembly, inhibitors of this protein recently entered clinical trails as anti-cancer therapy. However, several studies from past years indicate that Eg5 is not essential for bipolar spindle assembly under certain conditions and Kif15 seems to the central player in mediating Eg5-independent bipolar spindle assembly. In this chapter, we describe the function of Kif15 during mitosis and discuss if Kif15 could be a target for drug development in anticancer therapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cell Biology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Roy G. H. P. van Heesbeen & René H. Medema

Authors
  1. Roy G. H. P. van Heesbeen
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  2. René H. Medema
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to René H. Medema .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chair, Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, United Kingdom

    Frank Kozielski, FSB

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van Heesbeen, R.G.H.P., Medema, R.H. (2015). Kif15: A Useful Target for Anti-cancer Therapy?. In: Kozielski, FSB, F. (eds) Kinesins and Cancer. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9732-0_5

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