help button home button Biophys. J.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gibbons, F.
Right arrow Articles by José, J. V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gibbons, F.
Right arrow Articles by José, J. V.

Biophys J, June 2001, p. 2515-2526, Vol. 80, No. 6

A Dynamical Model of Kinesin-Microtubule Motility Assays

Frank Gibbons,* Jean-François Chauwin,* Marcelo Despósito,*dagger and Jorge V. José*

 *Physics Department, and Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA and  dagger Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, RA-1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina

A two-dimensional stochastic model for the dynamics of microtubules in gliding-assay experiments is presented here, which includes the viscous drag acting on the moving fiber and the interaction with the kinesins. For this purpose, we model kinesin as a spring, and explicitly use parameter values to characterize the model from experimental data. We numerically compute the mean attachment lifetimes of all motors, the total force exerted on the microtubules at all times, the effects of a distribution in the motor speeds, and also the mean velocity of a microtubule in a gliding assay. We find quantitative agreement with the results of J. Howard, A. J. Hudspeth, and R. D. Vale, Nature. 342:154-158. We perform additional numerical analysis of the individual motors, and show how cancellation of the forces exerted by the many motors creates a resultant longitudinal force much smaller than the maximum force that could be exerted by a single motor. We also examine the effects of inhomogeneities in the motor-speeds. Finally, we present a simple theoretical model for microtubules dynamics in gliding assays. We show that the model can be analytically solved in the limit of few motors attached to the microtubule and in the opposite limit of high motor density. We find that the speed of the microtubule goes like the mean speed of the motors in good quantitative agreement with the experimental and numerical results.

Biophys J, June 2001, p. 2515-2526, Vol. 80, No. 6
© 2001 by the Biophysical Society   0006-3495/01/06/2515/12  $2.00


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. C. Schaffner and J. V. Jose
Biophysical model of self-organized spindle formation patterns without centrosomes and kinetochores
PNAS, July 25, 2006; 103(30): 11166 - 11171.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JCBHome page
F. Nedelec
Computer simulations reveal motor properties generating stable antiparallel microtubule interactions
J. Cell Biol., September 16, 2002; 158(6): 1005 - 1015.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2001 by the Biophysical Society.