Temporal analysis of active and passive transport in living cells.
The cellular cytoskeleton is a fascinating active network, in which Brownian motion is intercepted by distinct phases of active transport. We present a time-resolved statistical analysis dissecting phases of directed motion out of otherwise diffusive motion of tracer particles in living cells. The distribution of active lifetimes is found to decay exponentially with a characteristic time tauA = 0.65 s. The velocity distribution of active events exhibits several peaks, in agreement with a discrete number of motor proteins acting collectively.
Arcizet
Delphine
D
Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, D-80539 Munich, Germany. delphine.arcizet@physik.lmu.de
Meier
Börn
B
Sackmann
Erich
E
Rädler
Joachim O
JO
Heinrich
Doris
D
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D008863:Microspheres; D008870:Microtubules / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological
D005290:Ferric Compounds; C001215:ferrite