Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each motor protein or direction by the system it belongs to.
Groups: Moves along microtubules · Moves along actin filaments
- Dynein, walking toward the minus end
- Kinesin, walking toward the plus end
- Myosin, driving cytoplasmic streaming
- Myosin, driving muscle contraction
Hints
- Each motor is specific to one filament type.
- The muscle motor runs on actin, not on microtubules.
Show the answer
Moves along microtubules: Kinesin, walking toward the plus end, Dynein, walking toward the minus end
Moves along actin filaments: Myosin, driving muscle contraction, Myosin, driving cytoplasmic streaming
Why
Kinesin and dynein are microtubule motors running in opposite directions; myosin is the actin motor. The pairing is strict, a motor cannot switch track types, which is what makes directional transport possible.
Practise The Cytoskeleton
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