# Flagella-like beating of a single microtubule

## TL;DR

This study demonstrates that clusters of kinesin motors can induce a microtubule to exhibit flagella-like oscillatory beating, revealing new insights into motor-induced filament dynamics and potential applications in nanotechnology.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel experimental setup showing persistent oscillatory motion of microtubules driven by kinesin clusters, with a theoretical force distribution model explaining the observed shapes.

## Key findings

- Microtubules exhibit flagella-like beating with a period of about 1 minute.
- Kinesin clusters exert forces mainly between 0-8 pN tangentially, involving 1-2 motors.
- Kinesins have a strong pinning effect, differing from traditional filament models.

## Abstract

Kinesin motors can induce a buckling instability in a microtubule with a fixed minus end. Here we show that by modifying the surface with a protein-repellent functionalization and using clusters of kinesin motors, the microtubule can exhibit persistent oscillatory motion, resembling the beating of sperm flagella. The observed period is of the order of 1 min. From the experimental images we theoretically determine a distribution of motor forces that explains the observed shapes using a maximum likelihood approach. A good agreement is achieved with a small number of motor clusters acting simultaneously on a microtubule. The tangential forces exerted by a cluster are mostly in the range 0 - 8 pN towards the microtubule minus end, indicating the action of 1 or 2 kinesin motors. The lateral forces are distributed symmetrically and mainly below 10 pN, while the lateral velocity has a strong peak around zero. Unlike well-known models for flapping filaments, kinesins are found to have a strong "pinning" effect on the beating filaments. Our results suggest new strategies to utilize molecular motors in dynamic roles that depend sensitively on the stress built-up in the system.