Research Article
Microtubule Motional Diffusion Coefficient in Motility Assays is Determined by Heterogeneity in Motor Stiffness
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/eai.3-12-2015.2262483, author={Henri Palacci and Ofer Idan and Megan Armstrong and Takahiro Nitta and Henry Hess}, title={Microtubule Motional Diffusion Coefficient in Motility Assays is Determined by Heterogeneity in Motor Stiffness}, proceedings={9th EAI International Conference on Bio-inspired Information and Communications Technologies (formerly BIONETICS)}, publisher={ACM}, proceedings_a={BICT}, year={2016}, month={5}, keywords={brownian dynamics motility assay motor protein microtubule kinesin}, doi={10.4108/eai.3-12-2015.2262483} }- Henri Palacci
Ofer Idan
Megan Armstrong
Takahiro Nitta
Henry Hess
Year: 2016
Microtubule Motional Diffusion Coefficient in Motility Assays is Determined by Heterogeneity in Motor Stiffness
BICT
EAI
DOI: 10.4108/eai.3-12-2015.2262483
Abstract
In the past twenty years, our ability to manipulate and engineer devices at the nano-scale has grown exponentially. As the fabrication of autonomous systems at these scales becomes a reality, the observation of biological structures can help us understand general design principles at the nano-scale. The gliding motility assay is an excellent model system for the observation of collective behavior of coupled motors. Indeed, hundreds of surface-adhered kinesin motors propel one microtubule filament. Filament motion has been observed using fluorescence microscopy, revealing fluctuations in gliding velocity. We here theoretically characterize the motional diffusion coefficients through the heterogeneity factor proposed by Sekimoto and Tawada, and use a Brownian dynamics simulation of kinesin head diffusion under an anharmonic potential to determine a theoretical value of 0.3 for this heterogeneity factor.
