Kinesin-like protein KIF17 is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 that in humans is encoded by the KIF17 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

. KIF17 and its close relative, C. elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...

OSM-3, are members of the kinesin

Kinesin

A kinesin is a protein belonging to a class of motor proteins found in eukaryotic cells. Kinesins move along microtubule filaments, and are powered by the hydrolysis of ATP . The active movement of kinesins supports several cellular functions including mitosis, meiosis and transport of cellular...

-2 family of plus-end directed microtubule

Microtubule

Microtubules are a component of the cytoskeleton. These rope-like polymers of tubulin can grow as long as 25 micrometers and are highly dynamic. The outer diameter of microtubule is about 25 nm. Microtubules are important for maintaining cell structure, providing platforms for intracellular...

-based motor proteins. In contrast to heterotrimeric kinesin-2 motors, however, KIF17 and OSM-3 form distinct homodimeric

Protein dimer

In biochemistry, a dimer is a macromolecular complex formed by two, usually non-covalently bound, macromolecules like proteins or nucleic acids...

 complexes. Homodimeric kinesin-2 has been implicated in the transport of NMDA receptor

NMDA receptor

The NMDA receptor , a glutamate receptor, is the predominant molecular device for controlling synaptic plasticity and memory function....

s along dendrite

Dendrite

Dendrites are the branched projections of a neuron that act to conduct the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the neuron from which the dendrites project...

s for delivery to the dendritic membrane, whereas both heterotrimeric and homodimeric kinesin-2 motors function cooperatively in anterograde intraflagellar transport

Intraflagellar transport

Intraflagellar transport or IFT is a bidirectional motility along axonemal microtubules that is essential for the formation and maintenance of most eukaryotic cilia and flagella. It is thought to be required to build all cilia that assemble within a membrane projection from the cell surface...

 (IFT) and cilium

Cilium

A cilium is an organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Cilia are slender protuberances that project from the much larger cell body....

 biogenesis

Biogenesis

Biogenesis is the law that living things come only from other living things, e.g. a spider lays eggs, which develop into spiders. It may also refer to biochemical processes of production in living organisms.-Spontaneous generation:...

.