Neurons use kinesin and dynein microtubule-dependent motor proteins to transport essential cellular components along axonal and dendritic microtubules. In a search for new kinesin-like proteins, we identified two neuronally enriched mouse kinesins that provide insight into a unique intracellular kinesin targeting mechanism in neurons. KIF21A and KIF21B share colinear amino acid similarity to each other, but not to any previously identified kinesins outside of the motor domain. Each protein also contains a domain of seven WD-40 repeats, which may be involved in binding to cargoes. Despite the amino acid sequence similarity between KIF21A and KIF21B, these proteins localize differently to dendrites and axons. KIF21A protein is localized throughout neurons, while KIF21B protein is highly enriched in dendrites. The plus end-directed motor activity of KIF21B and its enrichment in dendrites indicate that models suggesting that minus end-directed motor activity is sufficient for dendrite specific motor localization are inadequate. We suggest that a novel kinesin sorting mechanism is used by neurons to localize KIF21B protein to dendrites since its mRNA is restricted to the cell body.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 14 July 2018.
All research outputs
#7,594,553
of 34,427,821 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Cell Biology
#5,245
of 13,816 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#12,468
of 54,490 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Cell Biology
#34
of 76 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,427,821 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 73rd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 13,816 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.1. This one is in the 49th percentile – i.e., 49% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 54,490 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 60% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 76 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
