Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026

Dissecting Mechanoenzymatic Properties of Processive Myosins with Ultrafast Force-Clamp Spectroscopy
Published on: July 1, 2021
Reconstructing the free-energy landscape associated to molecular motors processivity
Nazul Jared López Alamilla1, Ivan Santamaría Holek
1Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito exterior de Ciudad Universitaria, México Distrito Federal 04530, Mexico. surfsk8.jared@gmail.com
Abstract:
We propose a biochemical model providing the kinetic and energetic descriptions of the processivity dynamics of kinesin and dinein molecular motors. Our approach is a modified version of a well known model describing kinesin dynamics and considers the presence of a competitive inhibition reaction by ADP. We first reconstruct a continuous free-energy landscape of the cycle catalyst process that allows us to calculate the number of steps given by a single molecular motor. Then, we calculate an analytical expression associated to the translational velocity and the stopping time of the molecular motor in terms of time and ATP concentration. An energetic interpretation of motor processivity is discussed in quantitative form by using experimental data. We also predict a time duration of collective processes that agrees with experimental reports.
Related Concept Videos
ATP Driven Pumps I: An Overview
There are four main types of ATP-driven pumps - P-type, V-type, F-type, and ABC transporter. All these pumps are of varying complexities and are...
ATP Synthase: Mechanism
ATP Synthase: Structure
Energy to Drive Translocation
Generally, polypeptides are unfolded by two distinct...
ATP Driven Pumps II: P-type Pumps
A typical P-type pump has three cytosolic domains: nucleotide-binding (N), phosphorylation (P), and activator (A) domains. These domains are connected to the membrane-spanning helices by short amino acid segments. ATP hydrolysis and covalent phosphoenzyme intermediate formation are crucial parts of the catalytic cycle. At the highly...
Mechanical Protein Functions

