KIF1C activates and extends dynein movement through the FHF cargo adapter.

Cellular cargos move bidirectionally on microtubules by recruiting opposite polarity motors dynein and kinesin. These motors show codependence, where one requires the activity of the other, although the mechanism is unknown. Here we show that kinesin-3 KIF1C acts as both an activator and a processivity factor for dynein, using in vitro reconstitutions of human proteins.

Discovery and functional characterization of neuropeptides in crinoid echinoderms.

Neuropeptides are one of the largest and most diverse families of signaling molecules in animals and, accordingly, they regulate many physiological processes and behaviors. Genome and transcriptome sequencing has enabled the identification of genes encoding neuropeptide precursor proteins in species from a growing variety of taxa, including bilaterian and non-bilaterian animals. Of particular interest are deuterostome invertebrates such as the phylum Echinodermata, which occupies a phylogenetic position that has facilitated reconstruction of the evolution of neuropeptide signaling systems in Bilateria.