scholarly journals Molecular motors: forty years of interdisciplinary research

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (21) ◽  
pp. 3936-3939 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Spudich

A mere forty years ago it was unclear what motor molecules exist in cells that could be responsible for the variety of nonmuscle cell movements, including the “saltatory cytoplasmic particle movements” apparent by light microscopy. One wondered whether nonmuscle cells might have a myosin-like molecule, well known to investigators of muscle. Now we know that there are more than a hundred different molecular motors in eukaryotic cells that drive numerous biological processes and organize the cell's dynamic city plan. Furthermore, in vitro motility assays, taken to the single-molecule level using techniques of physics, have allowed detailed characterization of the processes by which motor molecules transduce the chemical energy of ATP hydrolysis into mechanical movement. Molecular motor research is now at an exciting threshold of being able to enter into the realm of clinical applications.

Physiology ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caspar Rüegg ◽  
Claudia Veigel ◽  
Justin E. Molloy ◽  
Stephan Schmitz ◽  
John C. Sparrow ◽  
...  

Muscle myosin II is an ATP-driven, actin-based molecular motor. Recent developments in optical tweezers technology have made it possible to study movement and force production on the single-molecule level and to find out how different myosin isoforms may have adapted to their specific physiological roles.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Dienerowitz ◽  
Jamieson A. L. Howard ◽  
Steven D. Quinn ◽  
Frank Dienerowitz ◽  
Mark C. Leake

AbstractSingle-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) of molecular motors provides transformative insights into their dynamics and conformational changes both at high temporal and spatial resolution simultaneously. However, a key challenge of such FRET investigations is to observe a molecule in action for long enough without restricting its natural function. The Anti-Brownian ELectrokinetic Trap (ABEL trap) sets out to combine smFRET with molecular confinement to enable observation times of up to several seconds while removing any requirement of tethered surface attachment of the molecule in question. In addition, the ABEL trap’s inherent ability to selectively capture FRET active molecules accelerates the data acquisition process. Here we exemplify the capabilities of the ABEL trap in performing extended timescale smFRET measurements on the molecular motor Rep, which is crucial for removing protein blocks ahead of the advancing DNA replication machinery and for restarting stalled DNA replication. We are able to monitor single Rep molecules up to 6 s with 1 ms time resolution capturing multiple conformational switching events during the observation time. Here we provide a step-by-step guide for the rational design, construction and implementation of the ABEL trap for smFRET detection of Rep in vitro. We include details of how to model the electric potential at the trap site and use Hidden Markov analysis of the smFRET trajectories.


Physiology ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
DM Warshaw

Muscular contraction is powered by myosin, a molecular motor, that derives its energy from hydrolysis of ATP as it interacts with actin. With the development of the in vitro motility assay, molecular events that couple ATP hydrolysis to mechanical work can be probed at the level of a single myosin molecular motor.


Author(s):  
Saumya Yadav ◽  
Ambarish Kunwar

Molecular motor proteins are an extremely important component of the cellular transport system that harness chemical energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to carry out directed mechanical motion inside the cells. Transport properties of these motors such as processivity, velocity, and their load dependence have been well established through single-molecule experiments. Temperature dependent biophysical properties of molecular motors are now being probed using single-molecule experiments. Additionally, the temperature dependent biochemical properties of motors (ATPase activity) are probed to understand the underlying mechanisms and their possible implications on the enzymatic activity of motor proteins. These experiments in turn have revealed their activation energies and how they compare with the thermal energy available from the surrounding medium. In this review, we summarize such temperature dependent biophysical and biochemical properties of linear and rotary motor proteins and their implications for collective function during intracellular transport and cellular movement, respectively.


2000 ◽  
Vol 355 (1396) ◽  
pp. 473-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiko Kinosita ◽  
Ryohei Yasuda ◽  
Hiroyuki Noji ◽  
Kengo Adachi

A single molecule of F 1 –ATPase is by itself a rotary motor in which a central γ–subunit rotates against a surrounding cylinder made of α 3 β 3 –subunits. Driven by the three βs that sequentially hydrolyse ATP, the motor rotates in discrete 120° steps, as demonstrated in video images of the movement of an actin filament bound, as a marker, to the central γ–subunit. Over a broad range of load (hydrodynamic friction against the rotating actin filament) and speed, the F motor produces a constant torque of ca . 40 pN nm. The work done in a 120° step, or the work per ATP molecule, is thus ca . 80 pN nm. In cells, the free energy of ATP hydrolysis is ca . 90 pN nm per ATP molecule, suggesting that the F 1 motor can work at near 100% efficiency. We confirmed in vitro that F 1 indeed does ca . 80 pN nm of work under the condition where the free energy per ATP is 90 pN nm. The high efficiency may be related to the fully reversible nature of the F 1 motor: the ATP synthase, of which F 1 is a part, is considered to synthesize ATP from ADP and phosphate by reverse rotation of the F motor. Possible mechanisms of F 1 rotation are discussed.


2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (supplement) ◽  
pp. S83
Author(s):  
Sergey Mikhailenko ◽  
Yusuke Oguchi ◽  
Takashi Ohki ◽  
Adrian O. Olivares ◽  
Enrique M. De La Cruz ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyokeun Park ◽  
Erdal Toprak ◽  
Paul R. Selvin

AbstractMolecular motors, which use energy from ATP hydrolysis to take nanometer-scale steps with run-lengths on the order of micrometers, have important roles in areas such as transport and mitosis in living organisms. New techniques have recently been developed to measure these small movements at the single-molecule level. In particular, fluorescence imaging has contributed to the accurate measurement of this tiny movement. We introduce three single-molecule fluorescence imaging techniques which can find the position of a fluorophore with accuracy in the range of a few nanometers. These techniques are named after Hollywood animation characters: Fluorescence Imaging with One Nanometer Accuracy (FIONA), Single-molecule High-REsolution Colocalization (SHREC), and Defocused Orientation and Position Imaging (DOPI). We explain new understanding of molecular motors obtained from measurements using these techniques.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Xie

AbstractKinesin-8 molecular motor can move with superprocessivity on microtubules towards the plus end by hydrolyzing ATP molecules, depolymerizing microtubules. The available single molecule data for yeast kinesin-8 (Kip3) motor showed that its superprocessive movement is frequently interrupted by brief stick–slip motion. Here, a model is presented for the chemomechanical coupling of the kinesin-8 motor. On the basis of the model, the dynamics of Kip3 motor is studied analytically. The analytical results reproduce quantitatively the available single molecule data on velocity without including the slip and that with including the slip versus external load at saturating ATP as well as slipping velocity versus external load at saturating ADP and no ATP. Predicted results on load dependence of stepping ratio at saturating ATP and load dependence of velocity at non-saturating ATP are provided. Similarities and differences between dynamics of kinesin-8 and that of kinesin-1 are discussed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 355 (1396) ◽  
pp. 441-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yanagida ◽  
S. Esaki ◽  
A. Hikikoshi Iwane ◽  
Y. Inoue ◽  
A. Ishijima ◽  
...  

Recent progress in single–molecule detection techniques is remarkable. These techniques have allowed the accurate determination of myosin–head–induced displacements and how mechanical cycles are coupled to ATP hydrolysis, by measuring individual mechanical events and chemical events of actomyosin directly at the single–molecule level. Here we review our recent work in which we have made detailed measurements of myosin step size and mechanochemical coupling, and propose a model of the myosin motor.


Lab on a Chip ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 3196-3206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Till Korten ◽  
Elena Tavkin ◽  
Lara Scharrel ◽  
Vandana Singh Kushwaha ◽  
Stefan Diez

Molecular motors, essential to force-generation and cargo transport within cells, are invaluable tools for powering nanobiotechnological lab-on-a-chip devices.


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