Cell
Volume 65, Issue 5, 31 May 1991, Pages 837-847
Journal home page for Cell

Kinesin-related gene unc-104 is required for axonal transport of synaptic vesicles in C. elegans

https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(91)90391-BGet rights and content

Abstract

unc-104 encodes a novel kinesin paralog that may act as a microtubule-based motor In the nervous system. Neuronal cell lineages and axonogenesis are normal in unc-104 null mutants, but axons have few synaptic vesicles and make only a few small synapses. By contrast, neuron cell bodies have surfeits of similar vesicles tethered together within the cytoplasm. Based on behavioral and cellular phenotypes, we suggest that UNC-104 is a neuron-specific motor used for anterograde translocation of synaptic vesicles along axonal microtubuies. Other membrane-bounded organelles are transported normally.

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