The biological significance of kinesin-mediated intracellular transport: insights from the C. elegans research

As one of the major performers for intracellular transport, kinesins are widely involving in many intracellular processes by delivering the intracellular cargos along the microtubules to their destination. Thus, kinesins play critical roles in maintaining proper cell morphology and functions. As one of the eukaryotic model animals, C. elegans shares lots of conserved biological pathways with mammals. Up to now, about 20 kinesin-like proteins (KLP) are found in C. elegans. In this review, we focus on the recent ten years’ findings on kinesin-mediated intracellular transport in C. elegans research. These findings either revealed new mechanisms underlying conserved physiological processes among species, or may inspire the researchers for understanding human biology.