title: Bidirectional motion of motor assemblies and the weak-noise escape problem.
abstract: We present a detailed calculation that enables us to estimate the reversal time of a molecular motor assembly that displays bidirectional motion in the limit of weak noise. We derive a Fokker-Planck equation by taking a large volume expansion of a master equation, and we consider a simple choice of transition rates that enables us to reduce the number of variables to 2. We use the Wentzell-Freidlin theory to define an effective nonequilibrium potential and analytically estimate the reversal time. We also present the results of stochastic simulations that match very well our simulation results.
authors.affiliation: Physicochimie Curie (Institut Curie/CNRS-UMR168/UPMC), Institut Curie, Centre de Recherche, 26 rue d'Ulm F-75248 Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guérin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prost
authors.forename: J-F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Joanny
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009038:Motion
chemical_list: D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins