Medical Definition of Motor protein
1.
Proteins that bind ATP and are able to move on a suitable substrate with concomitant ATP hydrolysis.
most eukaryotic motor proteins move by binding to a specific site on either actin filaments (myosin) or on microtubules (dynein, kinesin). They are normally elongated molecules with two active binding sites although some kinesin analogues have a single site.
The distal end of the molecule normally binds adaptor proteins that enable them to make stable interactions with membranous vesicles or with filamentous structures, which then constitute the cargo to be moved along the substrate filament.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Motor Protein
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