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Controlling Flow Speeds of Microtubule-Based 3D Active Fluids Using Temperature

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Bidirectional membrane tube dynamics driven by nonprocessive motors.

Paige M Shaklee¹, Timon Idema, Gerbrand Koster

¹Physics of Life Processes, Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|March 12, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Molecular motors extract cellular membrane tubes. Remarkably, nonprocessive motors can cooperatively pull tubes, exhibiting dynamic growth and retraction phases, unlike their processive counterparts.

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Area of Science:

Cellular biology
Biophysics
Molecular motors

Background:

Cellular membrane tubes are essential for various biological processes.
Molecular motors are responsible for extracting these membrane tubes.
Individual motors lack sufficient force, necessitating motor clustering for tube extraction.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how motor properties influence membrane tube extraction.
To compare the tube pulling dynamics of processive and nonprocessive molecular motors.
To understand the cooperative mechanisms of nonprocessive motors in tube extraction.

Main Methods:

Utilized a minimal in vitro model system to study membrane tube dynamics.
Investigated the role of motor species (processive vs. nonprocessive) in tube extraction.
Developed a single-species model incorporating motor clustering and length-dependent tube tension.

Main Results:

Demonstrated that nonprocessive motors can cooperatively extract membrane tubes.
Observed distinct dynamic phases (growth, retraction, switching) for tubes pulled by nonprocessive motors.
Showed that the switching phase is a robust attractor in the developed theoretical model.

Conclusions:

Nonprocessive motors exhibit rich and dynamic tube extraction behaviors.
Motor clustering and tube tension regulate velocity and distance in tube dynamics.
The observed switching dynamics are a robust characteristic of nonprocessive motor-driven tube extraction, with potential implications for in vivo biological networks.