Dynactin is a multiprotein complex necessary for the function of microtubule motor protein dynein. The dynein-dynactin complex is involved in a variety of cellular events, includingmembrane vesicle transport, mitotic spindle assembly and centrosome separation [, , ].Dynamitin (dynactin subunit 2, DCTN2) is a subunit of the dynactin complex. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae it is also known as Jnm1. Dynactin contains two distinct structural domains: a projecting sidearm that interacts with dynein and an actin-like minifilament backbone that is thought to bind cargo. Dynamitin holds together both structural domains []. Dynamitin is implicated in cell adhesion by binding to macrophage-enriched myristoylated alanine-rice C kinase substrate (MacMARCKS) []. In mice, DCTN2 is involved in anchoring microtubules to centrosomes and may play a role in synapse formation during brain development [].
