Myosin IIIA is unique among myosin proteins in that it contains an N-terminal kinase domaincapable of autophosphorylating sites on the motor domain. A construct of myosin IIIA lacking the kinasedomain localizes more efficiently to the stereocilia tips and alters the morphology of the tips in inner earhair cells. Therefore, we performed a kinetic analysis of myosin IIIA without the kinase domain (MIII
K) and compared these results with our reported analysis of myosin IIIA containing the kinase domain(MIII). The steady-state kinetic properties of MIII
K indicate that it has a 2-fold higher maximum actin-activated ATPase rate (
kcat = 1.5 ± 0.1 s
-1) and a 5-fold tighter actin affinity (
KATPase = 6.0 ± 1.4
M,and
KActin = 1.4 ± 0.4
M) compared to MIII. The rate of ATP binding to the motor domain is enhancedin MIII
K (
K1k+2 0.10 ± 0.01
M
-1·s
-1) to a level similar to the rate of binding to MIII in thepresence of actin. The rate of ATP hydrolysis in the absence of actin is slow and may be rate limiting.Actin-activated phosphate release is identical with and without the kinase domain. The transition betweenactomyosin.ADP states, which is rate limiting in MIII, is enhanced in MIII
K. MIII
K accumulatesmore efficiently at the tips of filopodia in HeLa cells. Our results suggest a model in which the activityand concentration of myosin IIIA localized to the tips of actin bundles mediates the morphology of thetips in sensory cells.