TY - JOUR T1 - CENP-F couples cargo to growing and shortening microtubule ends JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/083618 SP - 083618 AU - Gil Kanfer AU - Martin Peterka AU - Vladimir K. Arzhanik AU - Alexei L. Drobyshev AU - Fazly I. Ataullakhanov AU - Vladimir A. Volkov AU - BenoƮt Kornmann Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/26/083618.abstract N2 - Dynamic microtubule ends exert pulling and pushing forces on intracellular membranes and organelles. However, the mechanical linkage of microtubule tips to their cargoes is poorly understood. CENP-F is a non-motor microtubule-binding protein that participates in microtubule binding at kinetochores and in the mitotic redistribution of the mitochondrial network. CENP-F-driven mitochondrial transport is linked to growing microtubule tips, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here we show that CENP-F tracks growing microtubule ends in living cells. In vitro reconstitution demonstrates that microtubule tips can transport mitochondria and CENP-F-coated artificial cargoes over micrometer-long distances, during both growing and shrinking phases. Based on these and previous observations, we suggest that CENP-F might act as a transporter of mitochondria and other cellular cargoes by attaching them to dynamic microtubule ends. ER -