Traffic by Small Teams of Molecular Motors

Melanie J. I. Müller (), Janina Beeg, Rumiana Dimova, Stefan Klumpp and Reinhard Lipowsky
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Melanie J. I. Müller: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm
Janina Beeg: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm
Rumiana Dimova: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm
Stefan Klumpp: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm
Reinhard Lipowsky: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Science Park Golm

A chapter in Traffic and Granular Flow ’07, 2009, pp 695-700 from Springer

Abstract: Summary Molecular motors transport various cargos along cytoskeletal filaments, analogous to trucks on roads. In contrast to vehicles, however, molecular motors do not work alone but in small teams. We describe a simple model for the transport of a cargo by one team of motors and by two teams of motors, which walk into opposite directions. The cooperation of one team of motors generates long-range transport, which we observed experimentally in vitro. Transport by two teams of motors leads to a variety of bidirectional motility behaviour and to dynamic instabilities reminiscent of spontaneous symmetry breaking. We also discuss how cargo transport by teams of motors allows the cell to generate robust long-range bidirectional transport.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-77074-9_78

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