Eukaryotic cells create internal order by using protein motors to transport molecules and organelles along cytoskeletal tracks. Recent genomic and functional studies suggest that five cargo-carrying motors emerged in primitive eukaryotes and have been widely used throughout evolution. The complexity of these "Toolbox" motors expanded in higher eukaryotes through gene duplication, alternative splicing, and the addition of associated subunits, which enabled new cargoes to be transported. Remarkably, fungi, parasites, plants, and animals have distinct subsets of Toolbox motors in their genomes, suggesting an underlying diversity of strategies for intracellular transport.

SummaryAxoplasm from the squid giant axon contains a soluble protein translocator that induces movement of microtubules on glass, latex beads on microtubules, and axoplasmic organelles on microtubules. We now report the partial purification of a protein from squid giant axons and optic lobes that induces these microtubule-based movements and show that there is a homologous protein in bovine brain. The purification of the translocator protein depends primarily on its unusual property of forming a high affinity complex with microtubules in the presence of a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog, adenylyl imidodiphosphate. The protein, once released from microtubules with ATP, migrates on gel filtration columns with an apparent molecular weight of 600 kilodaltons and contains 110-120 and 60-70 kilodalton polypeptides. This protein is distinct in molecular weight and enzymatic behavior from myosin or dynein, which suggests that it belongs to a novel class of force-generating molecules, for which we propose the name kinesin.

Summary Signals in many biological processes can be amplified by recruiting multiple copies of regulatory proteins to a site of action. Harnessing this principle, we have developed a novel protein scaffold, a repeating peptide array termed SunTag, which can recruit multiple copies of an antibody-fusion protein. We show that the SunTag can recruit up to 24 copies of GFP, thereby enabling long-term imaging of single protein molecules in living cells. We also use the SunTag to create a potent synthetic transcription factor by recruiting multiple copies of a transcriptional activation domain to a nuclease-deficient CRISPR/Cas9 protein and demonstrate strong activation of endogenous gene expression and re-engineered cell behavior with this system. Thus, the SunTag provides a versatile platform for multimerizing proteins on a target protein scaffold and is likely to have many applications in imaging and in controlling biological outputs.

The microtubule-based kinesin motors and actin-based myosin motors generate motions associated with intracellular trafficking, cell division, and muscle contraction. Early studies suggested that these molecular motors work by very different mechanisms. Recently, however, it has become clear that kinesin and myosin share a common core structure and convert energy from adenosine triphosphate into protein motion using a similar conformational change strategy. Many different types of mechanical amplifiers have evolved that operate in conjunction with the conserved core. This modular design has given rise to a remarkable diversity of kinesin and myosin motors whose motile properties are optimized for performing distinct biological functions.

μManager is an open-source, cross-platform desktop application, to control a wide variety of motorized microscopes, scientific cameras, stages, illuminators, and other microscope accessories. Since its inception in 2005, μManager has grown to support a wide range of microscopy hardware and is now used by thousands of researchers around the world. The application provides a mature graphical user interface and offers open programming interfaces to facilitate plugins and scripts. Here, we present a guide to using some of the recently added advanced μManager features, including hardware synchronization, simultaneous use of multiple cameras, projection of patterned light onto a specimen, live slide mapping, imaging with multi-well plates, particle localization and tracking, and high-speed imaging.

Programmed cell death–1 (PD-1) is a coinhibitory receptor that suppresses T cell activation and is an important cancer immunotherapy target. Upon activation by its ligand PD-L1, PD-1 is thought to suppress signaling through the T cell receptor (TCR). By titrating PD-1 signaling in a biochemical reconstitution system, we demonstrate that the co-receptor CD28 is strongly preferred over the TCR as a target for dephosphorylation by PD-1–recruited Shp2 phosphatase. We also show that CD28, but not the TCR, is preferentially dephosphorylated in response to PD-1 activation by PD-L1 in an intact cell system. These results reveal that PD-1 suppresses T cell function primarily by inactivating CD28 signaling, suggesting that costimulatory pathways play key roles in regulating effector T cell function and responses to anti–PD-L1/PD-1 therapy.

Activation of various cell surface receptors triggers the reorganization of downstream signaling molecules into micron- or submicron-sized clusters. However, the functional consequences of such clustering has been unclear. We biochemically reconstituted a 12-component signaling pathway on model membranes, beginning with T cell receptor (TCR) activation and ending with actin assembly. When TCR phoshophorylation was triggered, downstream signaling proteins spontaneously separated into liquid-like clusters that promoted signaling outputs both in vitro and in human Jurkat T cells. Reconstituted clusters were enriched in kinases but excluded phosphatases, and enhanced actin filament assembly by recruiting and organizing actin regulators. These results demonstrate that protein phase separation can create a distinct physical and biochemical compartment that facilitates signaling.

Cytoplasmic dynein is a molecular motor that transports a large variety of cargoes (e.g., organelles, messenger RNAs, and viruses) along microtubules over long intracellular distances. The dynactin protein complex is important for dynein activity in vivo, but its precise role has been unclear. Here, we found that purified mammalian dynein did not move processively on microtubules in vitro. However, when dynein formed a complex with dynactin and one of four different cargo-specific adapter proteins, the motor became ultraprocessive, moving for distances similar to those of native cargoes in living cells. Thus, we propose that dynein is largely inactive in the cytoplasm and that a variety of adapter proteins activate processive motility by linking dynactin to dynein only when the motor is bound to its proper cargo.