Abstract
We have identified a protein, Kif24, that shares homology with the kinesin-13 subfamily of motor proteins and specifically interacts with CP110 and Cep97, centrosomal proteins that play a role in regulating centriolar length and ciliogenesis. Kif24 preferentially localizes to mother centrioles. Loss of Kif24 from cycling cells resulted in aberrant cilia assembly but did not promote growth of abnormally long centrioles, unlike CP110 and Cep97 depletion. We found that loss of Kif24 leads to the disappearance of CP110 from mother centrioles, specifically in cycling cells able to form cilia. Kif24 is able to bind and depolymerize microtubules in vitro. Remarkably, ectopically expressed Kif24 specifically remodels centriolar microtubules without significantly altering cytoplasmic microtubules. Thus, our studies have identified a centriolar kinesin that specifically remodels a subset of microtubules, thereby regulating cilia assembly. These studies also suggest mechanistic differences between the regulation of microtubule elongation associated with centrioles and cilia.