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Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2001, p. 6044-6055, Vol. 21, No. 17
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.17.6044-6055.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Intact Lysosome Transport and Phagosome Function Despite Kinectin Deficiency

Thomas Plitz and Klaus Pfeffer^*

Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Hygiene, Technical University of Munich, D-81675 Munich, Germany

Received 28 November 2000/Returned for modification 20 March 2001/Accepted 23 May 2001

The mechanism of cargo coupling to kinesin motor proteins is a fundamental issue in organelle transport along microtubules. Kinectin has been postulated to function as a membrane anchor protein that attaches various organelles to the prototype motor protein kinesin. To verify the biological relevance of kinectin in vivo, the murine kinectin gene was disrupted by homologous recombination. Unexpectedly, kinectin-deficient mice were viable and fertile, and no gross abnormalities were observed up to 1 year of age. The assembly of the endoplasmic reticulum was essentially unaffected in kinectin-deficient cells. Mitochondria appeared to be correctly distributed throughout the cytoplasm along the microtubules. Furthermore, the stationary distribution and the bidirectional movement of lysosomes did not depend on kinectin. Kinectin-deficient phagocytes internalized and cleared bacteria, indicating that phagosome trafficking and maturation are functional without kinectin. Thus, these data unequivocally indicate that kinectin is not essential for trafficking of lysosomes, phagosomes, and mitochondria in vivo.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology & Hygiene, Technical University of Munich, Trogerstrasse 9, D-81675 Munich, Germany. Phone: 49-89-4140-4132. Fax: 49-89-4140-4139. E-mail: klaus.pfeffer{at}lrz.tum.de.

Present address: Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute, CH-1228 Geneva, Switzerland.

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Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2001, p. 6044-6055, Vol. 21, No. 17
0270-7306/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/MCB.21.17.6044-6055.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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