ATP reorients the neck linker of kinesin in two sequential steps.
Recent models of the kinesin mechanochemical cycle provide some conflicting information on how the neck linker contributes to movement. Some spectroscopic approaches suggest a nucleotide-induced order-to-disorder transition in the neck linker. However, cryoelectron microscopic imaging suggests instead that nucleotide alters the orientation of the neck linker when docked on the microtubule surface. Furthermore, since these studies utilized transition state or non-hydrolyzable nucleotide analogs, it is not clear at what point in the ATPase cycle this reorientation of the neck linker occurs. We have addressed this issue by developing a strategy to examine the effect of nucleotide on the orientation of the neck linker based on the technique of fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Transient kinetic studies utilizing this approach support a model in which ATP binding leads to two sequential isomerizations, the second of which reorients the neck linker in relation to the microtubule surface.