文章基本信息

标题：Embedding dual function into molecular motors through collective motion
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作者：Nen Saito ; Kunihiko Kaneko
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2017
卷号：7
期号：1
DOI：10.1038/srep44288
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：Protein motors, such as kinesins and dyneins, bind to a microtubule and travel along it in a specific direction. Previously, it was thought that the directionality for a given motor was constant in the absence of an external force. However, the directionality of the kinesin-5 Cin8 was recently found to change as the number of motors that bind to the same microtubule is increased. Here, we introduce a simple mechanical model of a microtubule-sliding assay in which multiple motors interact with the filament. We show that, due to the collective phenomenon, the directionality of the motor changes (e.g., from minus- to plus- end directionality), depending on the number of motors. This is induced by a large diffusive component in the directional walk and by the subsequent frustrated motor configuration, in which multiple motors pull the filament in opposite directions, similar to a game of tug-of-war. A possible role of the dual-directional motors for the mitotic spindle formation is also discussed. Our framework provides a general mechanism to embed two conflicting tasks into a single molecular machine, which works context-dependently.