Crystal structure of the motor domain of the kinesin-related motor ncd

The crystal structure of microtubule-based ATPases of the kinesin superfamily reveals that the ncd and kinesin motor domains have similar structures. X-ray crystallography is used to determine the ncd structure in Drosophila at 2.5 angstrom resolution. These motors share a common microtubule-binding site as is evident from the locations of conserved surface amino acids. A similar method of changing between NTP and NDP state conformations for NTPases is indicated by a comparison of ncd, kinesin, myosin and G proteins.