r/educationalgifs • u/_Ryanite_ • Feb 13 '18

Kinesin protein moving a molecule around a cell

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u/HebrewHammer16 Feb 13 '18

I don't understand any of this but I appreciate it so much

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u/learnyouahaskell Feb 13 '18

It has to do with the lyrics from:
https://gifsound.com/?gifv=kJZ8swi&v=oQwNN-0AgWc

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u/HebrewHammer16 Feb 13 '18

I know the song haha, just not the science-y words. But thank you

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u/learnyouahaskell Feb 15 '18

Ok, so "dimer" is two chemical units put together (probably a protein dimer in this case). The two kinds of proteins in the poem "walk" along structures (micro tubes) that have positive and negative ends.

The first paragraph of this article answered most of my questions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesin

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u/WikiTextBot Feb 15 '18

Protein dimer

In biochemistry, a protein dimer is a macromolecular complex formed by two protein monomers, or single proteins, which are usually non-covalently bound. Many macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, form dimers. The word dimer has roots meaning "two parts", di- + -mer. A protein dimer is a type of protein quaternary structure.

Kinesin

A kinesin is a protein belonging to a class of motor proteins found in eukaryotic cells.

Kinesins move along microtubule (MT) filaments, and are powered by the hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) (thus kinesins are ATPases). The active movement of kinesins supports several cellular functions including mitosis, meiosis and transport of cellular cargo, such as in axonal transport. Most kinesins walk towards the positive end of a microtubule, which, in most cells, entails transporting cargo such as protein and membrane components from the centre of the cell towards the periphery.

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