Myosin V molecular motor

In living systems, molecules called molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical motion, and are essential for many life processes including intracellular transport, cell division, and muscle contraction. Myosin V is a type of molecular motor that transports cargo through cells by "walking" along filaments. In contrast to human-made motors, molecular motors operate in an environment where fluctuations due to Brownian motion are significant. Ongoing experimental and theoretical research is aimed at understanding the mechanism by which molecular motors achieve coordinated, directed motion in a thermal environment.

Animation of model from:
"Mechanical model for myosin V", Erin M. Craig and Heiner Linke, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science vol. 106, p. 18261-18266, 2009.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• molecular motor
• myosin V
• Brownian motor
• molecular machine
• myosin

[aBronteSister]

Very cool....so proud of you!

[craigricketson]

@aBronteSister Thanks! :)

[MsCoralline]

Makes me exhausted just to watch it! Good seeing you in Santa Fe.

[craigricketson]

@MsCoralline Great seeing you too!

[AlanPaulBowling]

Was this produced using the Langevin equations?

[craigricketson]

Yes. It was produced using Brownian dynamics simulations based on an overdamped Langevin equation.

[MsWillybert]

Kinesin is wayyy cooler!