Distinct transport regimes for two elastically coupled molecular motors

Cooperative cargo transport by two molecular motors involves an elastic motor-motor coupling, which can reduce the motors' velocity and/or enhance their unbinding from the filament. We show theoretically that these interference effects lead, in general, to four distinct transport regimes. In addition to a weak coupling regime, kinesin and dynein motors are found to exhibit a strong coupling and an enhanced unbinding regime, whereas myosin motors are predicted to attain a reduced velocity regime. All of these regimes, which we derive by explicit calculations and general time scale arguments, can be explored experimentally by varying the elastic coupling strength.