Structure and Roles of Dynein in Cellular Processes
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Biophysics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 2420
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biochemistry; biophysics; cilia; cytoskeleton; dyneins; flagella; image processing, computer-assisted; microscopy, electron; microscopy, fluorescence; microtubules; molecular biology; nervous system diseases; protein conformation; signal processing, computer-assisted; tomography; protein structure, tertiary; cryoelectron microscopy; imaging, three-dimensional; axoneme; axonemal dyneins; machine learning
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Dynein is a microtubule-based motor protein responsible for intracellular cargo transport and cell motility. Cytoplasmic dynein-1, a ~1.5-MDa complex, moves diverse cellular cargos from the plus ends of microtubules to their minus ends. Its cargos include many essential membrane-bound organelles, ribonucleoprotein particles, and aggregated proteins. A fully activated dynein transport machine requires the formation of a tripartite complex, consisting of dynein-1, the dynactin complex, and an adaptor protein. Dynein-mediated cargo transport is a highly regulated cellular process in time and space, which involves the participation of many different cofactors and adaptors. Due to the many fundamentally important cellular roles of dynein-1, a large number of human diseases are linked to dynein-1 mutations. Furthermore, during the evolution, myriads of viruses have evolved to ‘hitchhike’ the dynein-1-mediated intracellular transport to facilitate their translocation, assembly, and replication in the host cells.
In addition to dynein-1, nearly all other dyneins specifically localize and function in cilia (flagella), including dynein-2 for retrograde intraciliary transport and axonemal dyneins that drive ciliary motility. Defects in ciliary structures and functions lead to a large group of diseases collectively termed ciliopathies. Most of the reported cases are attributed to the mutations of ciliary dyneins and abnormal regulation of dynein activity.
Through the joint efforts from many research labs since the discovery of dynein in the 1960s, our understanding of dynein’s overall structures and roles in various cellular activities has been significantly improved. Nevertheless, the detailed mechanisms of the highly dynamic intracellular transport and ciliary beating, the roles of various dynein cofactors during these processes, and their implications in human diseases are still poorly understood.
This Special Issue aims to highlight new findings and perspectives regarding dynein’s roles in diverse cellular activities, mechanistic understanding of dynein-mediated cargo transport and ciliary motility, regulation of dynein activities, and their connections to human diseases.
The topics of this Special Issue will include but are not limited to the following themes:
- Dynein’s roles in intracellular/intraflagellar transport and ciliary motility;
- Dynein structures and mechanisms;
- Dynein assembly and pre-assembly;
- Dynein cofactors and their roles;
- Regulation of dynein activity;
- Dynein-mediated intracellular transport of viruses;
- New findings/perspectives on dynein-related diseases.
Dr. Kai Zhang
Dr. Yue Wang
Guest Editors
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