The introduction of mechanical functions and controlled motion based on molecular motors machines offers tremendous opportunities towards the design dynamic systems responsive materials.

Initially, linear motors have been particularly dedicated to transportation systems. Nowadays, linear motors are meant to replace a system using a rotating motor and a transmission to realize a linear movement. With linear motors the performances increase considerably since the mechanical limitations are removed. This leads to a better precision, a higher acceleration and a higher speed of the ...

SR motors are gaining wider popularity among variable-speed drives. This is due to their simple, low-cost construction characterized by an absence of magnets and rotor winding, high level of performance over a wide range of speeds, and fault-tolerant power stage design. Availability and the moderate cost of the necessary electronic components make SR drives a viable alternative to other commonl...

ing is managed? Intracellular Transport in Neurons The Logic of Intracellular Transport It is well known that axons are long and lack the machinThe basic principles are clear and simple (Figure 1). ery for protein synthesis. Therefore, we are taught that Most long-range transport isdirected by themicrotubule there is axonal transport of proteins synthesized in the cytoskeleton. Microtubules hav...

Many microtubule motors have been shown to couple to endosomal membranes. These motors include dynein in addition to many different kinesin family members. Sorting nexins (SNXs) are central to the organization and function of endosomes. These proteins can actively shape endosomal membranes and couple directly or indirectly to the minus-end microtubule motor dynein. Motor proteins acting on endo...

Long-distance transport in cells is driven by kinesin and dynein motors that move along microtubule tracks. These motors must be tightly regulated to ensure the spatial and temporal fidelity of their transport events. Transport motors of the kinesin-1 and kinesin-3 families are regulated by autoinhibition, but little is known about the mechanisms that regulate kinesin-2 motors. We show that the...

Protein motors, such as kinesins and dyneins, bind to a microtubule and travel along it in a specific direction. Previously, it was thought that the directionality for a given motor was constant in the absence of an external force. However, the directionality of the kinesin-5 Cin8 was recently found to change as the number of motors that bind to the same microtubule is increased. Here, we intro...

BACKGROUND Cellular activities such as endocytosis and secretion require that cargos actively switch between the microtubule (MT) and actin filament (AF) networks. Cellular studies suggest that switching may involve a tug of war or coordinate regulation of MT- and AF-based motor function. RESULTS To test the hypothesis that motor number can be used to direct the outcome of a tug-of-war proces...