Random walks of molecular motors arising from diffusional encounters with immobilized filaments

TL;DR

This paper models the movement of molecular motors on filaments as directed walks with detachment and reattachment, revealing anomalous diffusion and effects of protofilament structure through analytical solutions.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical framework for understanding motor dynamics including detachment, reattachment, and protofilament effects, advancing beyond previous models.

Findings

Diffusion coefficient becomes anomalously large due to detachment and reattachment.

Fraction of bound motors and their average velocity are quantitatively characterized.

Protofilament occupancy reaches equilibrium after transient dynamics.

Abstract

Movements of molecular motors on cytoskeletal filaments are described by directed walks on a line. Detachment from this line is allowed to occur with a small probability. Motion in the surrounding fluid is described by symmetric random walks. Effects of detachment and reattachment are calculated by an analytical solution of the master equation in two and three dimensions. Results are obtained for the fraction of bound motors, their average velocity and displacement. The diffusion coefficient parallel to the filament becomes anomalously large since detachment and subsequent reattachment, in the presence of directed motion of the bound motors, leads to a broadening of the density distribution. The occurrence of protofilaments on a microtubule is modeled by internal states of the binding sites. After a transient time all protofilaments become equally populated.