Cited by 153Microtubule and mitosis dynamicsNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchCellular transport and secretion

Kinesin-3 responds to local microtubule dynamics to target synaptic cargo delivery to the presynapse

Open access
Guedes-Dias, Pedro, Nirschl, Jeffrey J., Abreu, Nohely, Tokito, Mariko K., Janke, Carsten, Magiera, Maria M., Holzbaur, Erika L.F.·2019·Current Biology

Abstract

Neurons in the CNS establish thousands of en passant synapses along their axons. Robust neurotransmission depends on the replenishment of synaptic components in a spatially precise manner. Using live-cell microscopy and single-molecule reconstitution assays, we find that the delivery of synaptic vesicle precursors (SVPs) to en passant synapses in hippocampal neurons is specified by an interplay between the kinesin-3 KIF1A motor and presynaptic microtubules. Presynaptic sites are hotspots of dynamic microtubules rich in GTP-tubulin. KIF1A binds more weakly to GTP-tubulin than GDP-tubulin and competes with end-binding (EB) proteins for binding to the microtubule plus end. A disease-causing mutation within KIF1A that reduces preferential binding to GDP- versus GTP-rich microtubules disrupts SVP delivery and reduces presynaptic release upon neuronal stimulation. Thus, the localized enrichment of dynamic microtubules along the axon specifies a localized unloading zone that ensures the accurate delivery of SVPs, controlling presynaptic strength in hippocampal neurons.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cub.2018.11.065

Cites

5 of 5 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Various microtubule-binding proteins have higher affinities for expanded or compacted lattices in vitro and can induce lattice expansion or compaction, respectively.

    “various microtubule-binding proteins have higher affinities for expanded or compacted lattices in vitro and can also induce lattice expansion or compaction, respectively (Ferro et al., 2022; Guedes-Dias et al., 2019; Peet et al., 2018; Shima et al., 2018; Watanabe et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2017)”

    From StableMARK-decorated microtubules in cells have expanded lattices (2025) · cites this paper as Guedes-Dias et al., 2019

    The Results section reports that KIF1A binds more strongly to GDP-taxol-stabilized than to GMPCPP-stabilized microtubules in vitro. The Discussion describes GDP-like lattices as compacted and GTP-like lattices as expanded. Neither section shows that KIF1A, or another binding protein studied here, induces lattice compaction or expansion. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • KIF1A is sensitive to the nucleotide state of the microtubule lattice.

    “KIF1A, a neuronal cargo transporter critical for human health37–40 and sensitive to the nucleotide state of the microtubule lattice11.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 49

  1. [1]Wilhelm BG, Mandad S, Truckenbrodt S, Krohnert K, Schafer C, Rammner B, Koo SJ, Classen GA, Krauss M, Haucke V, (2014). Composition of isolated synaptic boutons reveals the amounts of vesicle trafficking proteins. Science 344, 1023– 1028. 24876496
  2. [2]Truckenbrodt S, Viplav A, Jahne S, Vogts A, Denker A, Wildhagen H, Fornasiero EF, and Rizzoli SO (2018). Newly produced synaptic vesicle proteins are preferentially used in synaptic transmission. The EMBO journal. PMC6068464 29950309
  3. [3]Shepherd GM, Raastad M, and Andersen P (2002). General and variable features of varicosity spacing along unmyelinated axons in the hippocampus and cerebellum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99, 6340– 6345. 11972022 PMC122950
  4. [5]Okada Y, Yamazaki H, Sekine-Aizawa Y, and Hirokawa N (1995). The neuron-specific kinesin superfamily protein KIF1A is a unique monomeric motor for anterograde axonal transport of synaptic vesicle precursors. Cell 81, 769– 780. 7539720
  5. [6]Koushika SP, Schaefer AM, Vincent R, Willis JH, Bowerman B, and Nonet ML (2004). Mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans cytoplasmic dynein components reveal specificity of neuronal retrograde cargo. The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 24, 3907– 3916. 15102906 PMC6729415
  6. [7]Niwa S, Tanaka Y, and Hirokawa N (2008). KIF1Bbeta- and KIF1A-mediated axonal transport of presynaptic regulator Rab3 occurs in a GTP-dependent manner through DENN/MADD. Nature cell biology 10, 1269– 1279. 18849981
  7. [8]Wu GH, Muthaiyan Shanmugam M, Bhan P, Huang YH, and Wagner OI (2016). Identification and Characterization of LIN-2(CASK) as a Regulator of Kinesin-3 UNC-104(KIF1A) Motility and Clustering in Neurons. Traffic 17, 891– 907. 27172328
  8. [9]Niwa S, Tao L, Lu SY, Liew GM, Feng W, Nachury MV, and Shen K (2017). BORC Regulates the Axonal Transport of Synaptic Vesicle Precursors by Activating ARL-8. Current biology: CB 27, 2569– 2578 e2564. 28823680 PMC5693321
  9. [10]Chia PH, Li P, and Shen K (2013). Cell biology in neuroscience: cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying presynapse formation. The Journal of cell biology 203, 11– 22. 24127213 PMC3798257
  10. [12]Yu W, and Baas PW (1994). Changes in microtubule number and length during axon differentiation. The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 14, 2818– 2829. 8182441 PMC6577472
  11. [13]Stephan R, Goellner B, Moreno E, Frank CA, Hugenschmidt T, Genoud C, Aberle H, and Pielage J (2015). Hierarchical microtubule organization controls axon caliber and transport and determines synaptic structure and stability. Developmental cel 33, 5– 21. PMC5906805 25800091
  12. [14]Yogev S, Cooper R, Fetter R, Horowitz M, and Shen K (2016). Microtubule Organization Determines Axonal Transport Dynamics. Neuron 92, 449– 460. 27764672 PMC5432135
  13. [15]Farias GG, Guardia CM, De Pace R, Britt DJ, and Bonifacino JS (2017). BORC/kinesin-1 ensemble drives polarized transport of lysosomes into the axon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114, E2955– E2964. 28320970 PMC5389300
  14. [16]Robinson BJ, Stanisavljevic B, Silverman MA, and Scalettar BA (2016). Stochastic Subcellular Organization of Dense-Core Vesicles Revealed by Point Pattern Analysis. Biophysical journal 111, 852– 863. 27558728 PMC5002077
  15. [17]Lo KY, Kuzmin A, Unger SM, Petersen JD, and Silverman MA (2011). KIF1A is the primary anterograde motor protein required for the axonal transport of dense-core vesicles in cultured hippocampal neurons. Neuroscience letters 491, 168– 173. 21256924
  16. [18]Gumy LF, Katrukha EA, Grigoriev I, Jaarsma D, Kapitein LC, Akhmanova A, and Hoogenraad CC (2017). MAP2 Defines a Pre-axonal Filtering Zone to Regulate KIF1- versus KIF5-Dependent Cargo Transport in Sensory Neurons. Neuron 94, 347– 362 e347. 28426968
  17. [19]Wong MY, Zhou C, Shakiryanova D, Lloyd TE, Deitcher DL, and Levitan ES (2012). Neuropeptide delivery to synapses by long-range vesicle circulation and sporadic capture. Cell 148, 1029– 1038. 22385966 PMC3294265
  18. [20]Cavolo SL, Bulgari D, Deitcher DL, and Levitan ES (2016). Activity Induces Fmr1 Sensitive Synaptic Capture of Anterograde Circulating Neuropeptide Vesicles. The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 36, 11781– 11787. 27852784 PMC5125230
  19. [21]Stepanova T, Slemmer J, Hoogenraad CC, Lansbergen G, Dortland B, De Zeeuw CI, Grosveld F, van Cappellen G, Akhmanova A, and Galjart N (2003). Visualization of microtubule growth in cultured neurons via the use of EB3-GFP (endbinding protein 3-green fluorescent protein). The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 23, 2655– 2664. 12684451 PMC6742099
  20. [22]Vasquez RJ, Howell B, Yvon AM, Wadsworth P, and Cassimeris L (1997). Nanomolar concentrations of nocodazole alter microtubule dynamic instability in vivo and in vitro. Molecular biology of the cell 8, 973– 985. 9201709 PMC305707
  21. [23]Perlson E, Hendricks AG, Lazarus JE, Ben-Yaakov K, Gradus T, Tokito M, and Holzbaur EL (2013). Dynein interacts with the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM180) to tether dynamic microtubules and maintain synaptic density in cortical neurons. The Journal of biological chemistry 288, 27812– 27824. 23960070 PMC3784697
  22. [24]Tomishige M, Klopfenstein DR, and Vale RD (2002). Conversion of Unc104/KIF1A kinesin into a processive motor after dimerization. Science 297, 2263– 2267. 12351789
  23. [25]Soppina V, Norris SR, Dizaji AS, Kortus M, Veatch S, Peckham M, and Verhey KJ (2014). Dimerization of mammalian kinesin-3 motors results in superprocessive motion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111, 5562– 5567. 24706892 PMC3992690
  24. [26]Seetapun D, Castle BT, McIntyre AJ, Tran PT, and Odde DJ (2012). Estimating the microtubule GTP cap size in vivo. Current biology: CB 22, 1681– 1687. 22902755 PMC3461128
  25. [27]Zanic M, Stear JH, Hyman AA, and Howard J (2009). EB1 recognizes the nucleotide state of tubulin in the microtubule lattice. PloS one 4, e7585. 19851462 PMC2761489
  26. [28]Maurer SP, Bieling P, Cope J, Hoenger A, and Surrey T (2011). GTPgammaS microtubules mimic the growing microtubule end structure recognized by end-binding proteins (EBs). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, 3988– 3993. 21368119 PMC3053978
  27. [29]Peris L, Thery M, Faure J, Saoudi Y, Lafanechere L, Chilton JK, Gordon-Weeks P, Galjart N, Bornens M, Wordeman L, (2006). Tubulin tyrosination is a major factor affecting the recruitment of CAP-Gly proteins at microtubule plus ends. The Journal of cell biology 174, 839– 849. 16954346 PMC2064338
  28. [30]Cai D, McEwen DP, Martens JR, Meyhofer E, and Verhey KJ (2009). Single molecule imaging reveals differences in microtubule track selection between Kinesin motors. PLoS biology 7, e1000216. 19823565 PMC2749942
  29. [31]Norris SR, Soppina V, Dizaji AS, Schimert KI, Sept D, Cai D, Sivaramakrishnan S, and Verhey KJ (2014). A method for multiprotein assembly in cells reveals independent action of kinesins in complex. The Journal of cell biology 207, 393– 406. 25365993 PMC4226728
  30. [32]Gramlich MW, Conway L, Liang WH, Labastide JA, King SJ, Xu J, and Ross JL (2017). Single Molecule Investigation of Kinesin-1 Motility Using Engineered Microtubule Defects. Scientific reports 7, 44290. 28287156 PMC5347089
  31. [33]Yajima H, Ogura T, Nitta R, Okada Y, Sato C, and Hirokawa N (2012). Conformational changes in tubulin in GMPCPP and GDP-taxol microtubules observed by cryoelectron microscopy. The Journal of cell biology 198, 315– 322. 22851320 PMC3413364
  32. [34]Alushin GM, Lander GC, Kellogg EH, Zhang R, Baker D, and Nogales E (2014). High-resolution microtubule structures reveal the structural transitions in alphabetα-tubulin upon GTP hydrolysis. Cell 157, 1117– 1129. 24855948 PMC4054694
  33. [35]Nakata T, Niwa S, Okada Y, Perez F, and Hirokawa N (2011). Preferential binding of a kinesin-1 motor to GTP-tubulin-rich microtubules underlies polarized vesicle transport. The Journal of cell biology 194, 245– 255. 21768290 PMC3144414
  34. [36]Li Q, King SJ, and Xu J (2017). Native kinesin-1 does not bind preferentially to GTP-tubulin-rich microtubules in vitro. Cytoskeleton 74, 356– 366. 28699205 PMC5752144
  35. [37]Nirschl JJ, Magiera MM, Lazarus JE, Janke C, and Holzbaur EL (2016). alpha-Tubulin Tyrosination and CLIP-170 Phosphorylation Regulate the Initiation of Dynein-Driven Transport in Neurons. Cell reports 14, 2637– 2652. 26972003 PMC4819336
  36. [38]Guardia CM, Farias GG, Jia R, Pu J, and Bonifacino JS (2016). BORC Functions Upstream of Kinesins 1 and 3 to Coordinate Regional Movement of Lysosomes along Different Microtubule Tracks. Cell reports 17, 1950– 1961. 27851960 PMC5136296
  37. [39]Lipka J, Kapitein LC, Jaworski J, and Hoogenraad CC (2016). Microtubule-binding protein doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) guides kinesin-3-mediated cargo transport to dendrites. The EMBO journal 35, 302– 318. 26758546 PMC4741305
  38. [40]Cheon CK, Lim SH, Kim YM, Kim D, Lee NY, Yoon TS, Kim NS, Kim E, and Lee JR (2017). Autosomal dominant transmission of complicated hereditary spastic paraplegia due to a dominant negative mutation of KIF1A, SPG30 gene. Scientific reports 7, 12527. 28970574 PMC5624960
  39. [41]Niwa S, Lipton DM, Morikawa M, Zhao C, Hirokawa N, Lu H, and Shen K (2016). Autoinhibition of a Neuronal Kinesin UNC-104/KIF1A Regulates the Size and Density of Synapses. Cell reports 16, 2129– 2141. 27524618 PMC5432123
  40. [42]Wu YE, Huo L, Maeder CI, Feng W, and Shen K (2013). The balance between capture and dissociation of presynaptic proteins controls the spatial distribution of synapses. Neuron 78, 994– 1011. 23727120 PMC3898717
  41. [43]Yogev S, Maeder CI, Cooper R, Horowitz M, Hendricks AG, and Shen K (2017). Local inhibition of microtubule dynamics by dynein is required for neuronal cargo distribution. Nature communications 8, 15063. PMC5399302 28406181
  42. [44]Zhang R, Alushin GM, Brown A, and Nogales E (2015). Mechanistic Origin of Microtubule Dynamic Instability and Its Modulation by EB Proteins. Cell 162, 849– 859. 26234155 PMC4537847
  43. [45]Maurer SP, Fourniol FJ, Bohner G, Moores CA, and Surrey T (2012). EBs recognize a nucleotide-dependent structural cap at growing microtubule ends. Cell 149, 371– 382. 22500803 PMC3368265
  44. [46]McVicker DP, Awe AM, Richters KE, Wilson RL, Cowdrey DA, Hu X, Chapman ER, and Dent EW (2016). Transport of a kinesin-cargo pair along microtubules into dendritic spines undergoing synaptic plasticity. Nature communications 7, 12741. PMC5411814 27658622
  45. [47]Yagensky O, Kalantary Dehaghi T, and Chua JJ (2016). The Roles of Microtubule-Based Transport at Presynaptic Nerve Terminals. Frontiers in synaptic neuroscience 8, 3. 26903856 PMC4748046
  46. [50]Su Q, Cai Q, Gerwin C, Smith CL, and Sheng ZH (2004). Syntabulin is a microtubule-associated protein implicated in syntaxin transport in neurons. Nature cell biology 6, 941– 953. 15459722
  47. [52]Schikorski T, and Stevens CF (1997). Quantitative ultrastructural analysis of hippocampal excitatory synapses. The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 17, 5858– 5867. 9221783 PMC6573206
  48. [53]Dixit R, Barnett B, Lazarus JE, Tokito M, Goldman YE, and Holzbaur EL (2009). Microtubule plus-end tracking by CLIP-170 requires EB1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106, 492– 497. 19126680 PMC2626730
  49. [54]Mangeol P, Prevo B, and Peterman EJ (2016). KymographClear and KymographDirect: two tools for the automated quantitative analysis of molecular and cellular dynamics using kymographs. Molecular biology of the cell 27, 1948– 1957. 27099372 PMC4907728

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Guedes-Dias, P., Nirschl, J. J., Abreu, N., Tokito, M. K., Janke, C., Magiera, M. M., & Holzbaur, E. L. F.
Affiliations
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Université Paris-Sud (FR)
Corresponding author
Holzbaur, Erika L.F.
Venue
Current Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-01
Volume
29
Issue
2
Pages
268-282.e8
ISSN
0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2907624470
Cited by
153
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 13
FWCI
11.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Current Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • NIH (R01GM048661, R35 GM126950, F30NS092227)
  • ANR (ANR-10-LBX-0038, ANR-10-IDEX-0001-02 PSL)
  • Fondation pour la Recherche Medicale (DEQ20170336756)
  • Fondation Vaincre Alzheimer (FR-16055p)
  • NSF Science and Technology Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CMMI-1548571)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular transport and secretion
Keywords
kinesin-3, KIF1A, microtubule dynamics, end-binding proteins, presynaptic neurotransmitter release, hippocampal neurons
MeSH terms
Animals, Hippocampus, Microtubules, Neurons, Synaptic Vesicles, Kinesins, Rats

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review