An active biopolymer network controlled by molecular motors

An active biopolymer network controlled by molecular motors.

We describe an active polymer network in which processive molecular motors control network elasticity. This system consists of actin filaments cross-linked by filamin A (FLNa) and contracted by bipolar filaments of muscle myosin II. The myosin motors stiffen the network by more than two orders of magnitude by pulling on actin filaments anchored in the network by FLNa cross-links, thereby genera...

Length regulation of active biopolymers by molecular motors.

For biopolymers like cytoskeletal actin filaments and microtubules, assembly and disassembly are inherently dissipative processes. Molecular motors can affect the rates of subunit removal at filament ends. We introduce a driven lattice-gas model to study the effects of motor-induced depolymerization on the length of active biopolymers and find that increasing motor activity sharpens unimodal st...

Modeling Spatial Distribution of Intracellular Organelles by Molecular Motors

The network model of molecular motors

Molecular motors are biogenic force generators acting in the nanometer range. They convert chemical energy into mechanical work and move along filamentous structures. In this research, we will discuss the velocity of molecular motors, in framework of a mechanochemical network theory. Our network model is based on the distinct mechanochemical states of molecular motors. It can be regarded as a g...

Relation between cooperative molecular motors and active Brownian particles.

Active Brownian particles (ABPs), obeying a nonlinear Langevin equation with speed-dependent drift and noise amplitude, are well-known models used to describe self-propelled motion in biology. In this paper we study a model describing the stochastic dynamics of a group of coupled molecular motors (CMMs). Using two independent numerical methods, one based on the stationary velocity distribution ...