Physics – Biological Physics
Scientific paper
2011-11-04
Physics
Biological Physics
6 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Physical Review E
Scientific paper
Membrane tubes are important elements for living cells to organize many functions. Experiments have found that membrane tube can be extracted from giant lipid vesicles by a group of kinesin. How these motors cooperate in extracting the fluid-like membrane tube is still unclear. In this paper, we propose a new cooperation mechanism called two-track-dumbbell model, in which kinesin is regarded as a dumbbell with an end (tail domain) tightly bound onto the fluid-like membrane and the other end (head domain) stepping on or unbinding from the microtubule. Taking account of the elasticity of kinesin molecule and the exclude volume effect of both the head domain and the tail domain of kinesin, which are not considered in previous models, we simulate the growth process of the membrane tube pulled by kinesin motors. Our results indicate that motors along a single microtubule protofilament can generate enough force to extract membrane tubes from vesicles, and the average number of motors pulling the tube is about 8~9. These results are quite different from previous studies (Ref. \cite{camp.08}), and further experimental tests are necessary to elucidate the cooperation mechanism.
Li Ming
Wang Ziqing
No associations
LandOfFree
A new cooperation mechanism of kinesin motors when extracting membrane tube does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A new cooperation mechanism of kinesin motors when extracting membrane tube, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A new cooperation mechanism of kinesin motors when extracting membrane tube will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-100567