title: Generic Transport Mechanisms for Molecular Traffic in Cellular Protrusions.
abstract: Transport of molecular motors along protein filaments in a half-closed geometry is a common feature of biologically relevant processes in cellular protrusions. Using a lattice-gas model we study how the interplay between active and diffusive transport and mass conservation leads to localized domain walls and tip localization of the motors. We identify a mechanism for task sharing between the active motors (maintaining a gradient) and the diffusive motion (transport to the tip), which ensures that energy consumption is low and motor exchange mostly happens at the tip. These features are attributed to strong nearest-neighbor correlations that lead to a strong reduction of active currents, which we calculate analytically using an exact moment identity, and might prove useful for the understanding of correlations and active transport also in more elaborate systems.
authors.affiliation: Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, D-80333 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabella R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.affiliation: Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, D-80333 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frey
mesh_terms: D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D022081:Cell Surface Extensions; D003599:Cytoskeleton; D004058:Diffusion; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins; D009038:Motion
chemical_list: D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins