Related papers: Dynamics of an inchworm nano-walker
We analyze experimental observations of microtubules undergoing small fluctuations about a "balance point" when mixed in solution of two different kinesin motor proteins, KLP61F and Ncd. It has been proposed that the microtubule movement is…
The kinesin superfamily of motor proteins is a major driver of anterograde transport of vesicles and organelles within eukaryotic cells via microtubules. Numerous studies have elucidated the step-size, velocities, forces, and navigation…
Kinesins move processively toward the plus end of microtubules by hydrolyzing ATP for each step. From an enzymatic perspective, the mechanism of mechanical motion coupled to the nucleotide chemistry is often well explained using a…
A variety of complex mechanisms, from chemical reaction pathways to active fluctuations, orchestrate molecular transport in intracellular environments. Despite significant recent progress in visualizing and probing these processes, little…
Biological functions in each animal cell depend on coordinated operations of a wide variety of molecular motors. Some of the these motors transport cargo to their respective destinations whereas some others are mobile workshops which…
We analyze a model for a walker moving on a ratchet potential. This model is motivated by the properties of transport of motor proteins, like kinesin and myosin. The walker consists of two feet represented as two particles coupled…
Inchworm crawling allows for both quasistatic and dynamic gaits at a wide range of actuation frequencies. This locomotion mechanism is common in nonskeletal animals and exploited extensively in the bio-inspired field of soft robotics. In…
Within living cells, the transport of cargo is accomplished by groups of molecular motors. Such collective transport could utilize mechanisms which emerge from inter-motor interactions in ways that are yet to be fully understood. Here we…
Routinely navigating through an ever-changing and unsteady environment, and utilizing chemical energy, molecular motors transport the cell's crucial components, such as neurotransmitters and organelles. They generate force and pull cargo,…
The stochastic driving force exerted by a single molecular motor (e.g., a kinesin, or myosin) moving on a periodic molecular track (microtubule, actin filament, etc.) is discussed from a general viewpoint open to experimental test. An…
Despite significant fluctuation under thermal noise, biological machines in cells perform their tasks with exquisite precision. Using molecular simulation of a coarse-grained model and theoretical arguments we envisaged how kinesin, a…
Intracellular bidirectional transport of cargo on microtubule filaments is achieved by the collective action of oppositely directed dynein and kinesin motors. Experiments have found that in certain cases, inhibiting the activity of one type…
In eukaryotic cells, many motor proteins can move simultaneously on a single microtubule track. This leads to interesting collective phenomena like jamming. Recently we reported ({\it Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 95}, 118101 (2005)}) a lattice-gas…
We describe an efficient and parsimonious matrix-based theory for studying the ensemble behavior of self-propellers and active swimmers, such as nanomotors or motile bacteria, that are typically studied by differential-equation-based…
Inspired by dimeric motor proteins capable of undergoing transportation in living cells, significant efforts have been expended to the fabrication of track-walking nanomotors possessing two foot-like components that each can bind or detach…
Intracellular transport of large cargoes, such as organelles, vesicles or large proteins, is a complex dynamical process that involves the interplay of ATP-consuming molecular motors, cytoskeleton filaments and the viscoelastic cytoplasm.…
Dimeric molecular motors walk on polar tracks by binding and hydrolyzing one ATP per step. Despite tremendous progress, the waiting state for ATP binding in the well-studied kinesin that walks on microtubule (MT), remains controversial. One…
Movements of molecular motors on cytoskeletal filaments are described by directed walks on a line. Detachment from this line is allowed to occur with a small probability. Motion in the surrounding fluid is described by symmetric random…
The collective dynamics of $N$ weakly coupled processive molecular motors are considered theoretically. We show, using a discrete lattice model, that the velocity-force curves strongly depend on the effective dynamic interactions between…
Molecular motors are macromolecular complexes which use some form of input energy to perform mechanical work. The filamentary tracks, on which these motors move, are made of either proteins (e.g., microtubules) or nucleic acids (DNA or…