Members
| DCTN1 | DCTN2 | DCTN3 | DCTN4 |
A large macromolecular complex, dynactin, is required for the cytoplasmic dynein-driven movement of organelles along microtubules. Dynactin is composed of 10 distinct polypeptides of 150, 135, 62, 50 (DCTN2) (MIM.607376), 45, 42, 37, 32, 27, and 24 kD, with a combined mass of 10 million daltons.
The largest polypeptide of the dynactin complex, p150(Glued), binds directly to microtubules and to cytoplasmic dynein.
The binding of dynactin to dynein is critical for neuronal function, as antibodies that specifically disrupt this binding block vesicle motility along microtubules in extruded squid axoplasm.
The dynein-dynactin interaction is probably a key component of the mechanism of axonal transport of vesicles and organelles.