Collective Dynamics of Interacting Molecular Motors

Anatoly Kolomeisky
Rice University, USA

Abstract:
Motor proteins, also known as biological molecular motors, are enzymatic molecules that convert chemical energy, typically obtained from ATP, into mechanical work and motion. They play important roles in biological systems by supporting cellular transport, cellular organization, transfer of genetic information and many other biologically relevant processes. Experimental studies suggest that most biological molecular motors function collectively, and there are inter-molecular interactions that influence their dynamic behavior. To understand the mechanisms of collective behavior of motor proteins we investigate the effect of interactions in the transport of molecular motors which move along linear filaments. Our analysis utilizes a recently introduced class of totally asymmetric exclusion processes that takes into account the intermolecular interactions via thermodynamically consistent approach. We develop a new theoretical method that allows us to compute analytically all dynamics properties of the system. It is found that there is an optimal strength of interactions (at weak repulsion) that leads to a maximal particle flux. It is also argued that correlations play important role in dynamics of interacting molecular motors. In addition, the symmetry of interactions influences the dynamic properties of molecular motors. Extensions of the theoretical method to transport of particles of arbitrary sizes and in inhomogeneous systems are also presented. The biological implications of our findings are also discussed.