Traffic of single-headed motor proteins KIF1A: effects of lane changing

Abstract

KIF1A kinesins are single-headed motor proteins which move on cylindrical nano-tubes called microtubules (MT). A normal MT consists of 13 protofilaments on which the equispaced motor binding sites form a periodic array. The collective movement of the kinesins on a MT is, therefore, analogous to vehicular traffic on multi-lane highways where each protofilament is the analogue of a single lane. Does lane-changing increase or decrease the motor flux per lane? We address this fundamental question here by appropriately extending a recent model [{\it Phys. Rev. E {\bf 75}, 041905 (2007)}]. By carrying out analytical calculations and computer simulations of this extended model, we predict that the flux per lane can increase or decrease with the increasing rate of lane changing, depending on the concentrations of motors and the rate of hydrolysis of ATP, the ``fuel'' molecules. Our predictions can be tested, in principle, by carrying out {\it in-vitro} experiments with fluorescently labelled KIF1A molecules.

4 pages REVTEX with 4 EPS figures; new schematic figure of the model

References in corpus (6)

• Phase Coexistence in Driven One Dimensional Transport
• The Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process with Langmuir Kinetics
• Asymmetric Coupling in Two-Channel Simple Exclusion Processes
• Exclusion Processes with Internal States
• Intra-cellular transport by single-headed kinesin KIF1A: effects of single-motor mechano-chemistry and steric interactions
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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Phase diagram of two-lane driven diffusive systems
• A model for bidirectional traffic of cytoskeletal motors
• Domain wall delocalization, dynamics and fluctuations in an exclusion process with two internal states
• Exact solution of a heterogeneous multi-lane asymmetric simple exclusion process
• Balance network of asymmetric simple exclusion process
• Flagellar length control in monoflagellates by motorized transport: growth kinetics and correlations of length fluctuations