Kinesin Family, Member 17 (KIF17)

KIF17 encodes a microtubule-dependent, neuron-specific molecular motor of 1,038 amino acids. KIF17 probably exists as a homodimer. KIF17 and Osm3, a putative dendritic motor for odorant receptors in Caenorhabditis elegans, constitute a family. KIF17 is similar to Osm3 in the head and tail domains and has 2 putative stalk domains that form an alpha-helical coiled coil. Antibody raised against amino acids 507 to 707 of KIF17 recognized the native KIF17 protein in the brain as a single 170-kD band. KIF17 can act without a coenzyme and can mediate fast intracellular transport. KIF17 is brain-specific, present in abundance in the gray matter, especially in hippocampus, but not in white matter such as the optic nerve. Double staining of cultured hippocampal neurons with anti-KIF17 and an axonal marker showed that KIF17 is a dendritic motor.