Katanin is an ATP-dependent microtubule severing protein composed of 60kDa (katanin-p60) and 80kDa (katanin-p80) subunits encoded by KATNA1 and KATNB1 genes, respectively []. Katanin-p60 has the enzymatic activity for microtubule severing, while katanin-p80 possesses multiple functions such as targeting katanin-p60 to the centrosome, augmenting microtubule severing by katanin-p60, and even suppressing microtubule severing []. This entry represents the katanin p60 subunit A1 subfamily, including KATNA1 and KATNAL1 from humans, and meiotic spindle formation protein MEI-1 from C. elegans. MEI-1 is required for translocation of the meiosis I spindle to the oocyte cortex in C. elegans [].
