Robust estimation of the motile cilia beating frequency

Motile cilia-specific protein macrocomplexes and cilia beating

In Eukaryotes, except fungi and higher plants, the coordinated beating of the motile cilia propels unicellular organisms and regulate the flow of the extracellular fluids in multicellular life forms. In humans proper beating of these tiny nanomachines ensures removal of the mucus and bacteria out of the airways, circulation of cerebrospinal fluid in brain ventricles, transport of the oocytes in...

SnapShot: Motile Cilia

Cilia-like beating of active microtubule bundles.

The mechanism that drives the regular beating of individual cilia and flagella, as well as dense ciliary fields, remains unclear. We describe a minimal model system, composed of microtubules and molecular motors, which self-assemble into active bundles exhibiting beating patterns reminiscent of those found in eukaryotic cilia and flagella. These observations suggest that hundreds of molecular m...

Realizing the physics of motile cilia synchronization with driven colloids

Cilia and flagella in biological systems often show large scale cooperative behaviors such as the synchronization of their beats in “metachronal waves”. These are beautiful examples of emergent dynamics in biology, and are essential for life, allowing diverse processes from the motility of eukaryotic microorganisms, to nutrient transport and clearance of pathogens from mammalian airways. How th...

Cilia beating patterns are not hydrodynamically optimal

We examine the hydrodynamic performance of two cilia beating patterns reconstructed from experimental data. In their respective natural systems, the two beating patterns correspond to: (A) pumping-specialized cilia, and (B) swimming-specialized cilia. We compare the performance of these two cilia beating patterns as a function of the metachronal coordination in the context of two model systems:...