title: Regularity and synchrony in motor proteins.
abstract: We investigate the origin of the regularity and synchrony which have been observed in numerical experiments of two realistic models of molecular motors, namely Fisher-Kolomeisky's model of myosin V for vesicle transport in cells and Duke's model of myosin II for sarcomere shortening in muscle contraction. We show that there is a generic organizing principle behind the emergence of regular gait for a motor pulling a large cargo and synchrony of action of many motors pulling a single cargo. These results are surprising in that the models used are inherently stochastic, and yet they display regular behaviors in the parameter range relevant to experiments. Our results also show that these behaviors are not tied to the particular models used in these experiments, but rather are generic to a wide class of motor protein models.
authors.affiliation: Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA. deville@cims.nyu.edu
authors.forename: R E Lee
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Deville
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vanden-Eijnden
mesh_terms: D003595:Cytoplasmic Streaming; D022162:Cytoplasmic Vesicles / Q000502:physiology; D004398:Dyneins / Q000378:metabolism; D016547:Kinesins / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009068:Movement; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D024462:Myosin Type II / Q000378:metabolism*; D024701:Myosin Type V / Q000378:metabolism*; D010507:Periodicity; D012016:Reference Values; D012518:Sarcomeres / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D018511:Systems Integration
chemical_list: D024462:Myosin Type II; D024701:Myosin Type V; D004398:Dyneins; D016547:Kinesins