Stepping and crowding of molecular motors: statistical kinetics from an exclusion process perspective.

ABSTRACT: Motor enzymes are remarkable molecular machines that use the energy derived from the hydrolysis of a nucleoside triphosphate to generate mechanical movement, achieved through different steps that constitute their kinetic cycle. These macromolecules, nowadays investigated with advanced experimental techniques to unveil their molecular mechanisms and the properties of their kinetic cycles, are implicated in many biological processes, ranging from biopolymerization (e.g., RNA polymerases and ribosomes) to intracellular transport (motor proteins such as kinesins or dyneins). Although the kinetics of individual motors is well studied on both theoretical and experimental grounds, the repercussions of their stepping cycle on the collective dynamics still remains unclear. Advances in this directio

SUBMITTER: Ciandrini L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4156680 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature