Editorial: Microtubule-associated molecular motors: Transport mechanisms and role in disease

Abstract

Long-distance transport is a fundamental process of life from single-cell amoeba to multicellular animals. Cells have a highly organized and efficient microtubulebased transport system called "intracellular transport" which dependent on microtubule-associated molecular motor proteins. Microtubules are selfassembled filaments that extend from the cell center (known as "minus-end") towards the cell periphery (known as "plus-end") and serve as tracks for molecular motors during intracellular transport. Members of kinesin and dynein families are mechanochemical enzymes that hydrolyze ATP to generate force and take steps along the microtubules while transporting cellular cargo. Most kinesins transport cargo towards the plus-end of microtubule (called as anterograde transport), whereas dyneins walk towards the minus-end of microtubule (called as retrograde transport).Molecular motor proteins of the kinesin and dynein families have been established to play critical roles in myriads of cellular processes such as intracellular and axonal transport, viral trafficking, endocytosis, development, signaling, and homeostasis. Cytoplasmic dynein is a highly versatile motor that transports various cargoes toward the minus ends of microtubules (Reck-Peterson et al., 2018;Olenick and Holzbaur, 2019). It also plays roles in mitosis, including mitotic spindle-pole focusing (Borgal