Effects of symmetry on coupled rotary molecular motors

TL;DR

This paper investigates how symmetry and coupling affect the performance of coupled rotary molecular motors under different driving forces, revealing optimal coupling and the phenomenon of motor disruption.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of symmetry and coupling strength on the power output of molecular motors under various driving conditions.

Findings

Symmetry match decreases output power under constant driving.

Output power is insensitive to symmetry under scaling driving.

Strong upstream driving can disrupt downstream motor performance.

Abstract

As engineering advances toward the nanoscale, understanding design principles for molecular motors becomes increasingly valuable. Many molecular motors consist of coupled components transducing one free-energy source into another. Here, we study the performance of coupled rotary molecular motors with different rotational symmetries under constant and scaling driving forces. Under constant driving and strong coupling, symmetry match between the motors decreases the output power. In contrast, under a scaling driving force, the output power is not sensitive to symmetries. However, driving the upstream motor too strongly reduces the downstream motor's output power, leading to a perhaps counterintuitive phenomenon we term disruption, in which the two motors become disconnected. Across both driving schemes, output power peaks at intermediate coupling, confirming the value of flexible coupling. Beyond providing insights into biological motors, these findings could inform the future design of synthetic nanomotors and structure-based drugs.