Nano-Particles Carried by Multiple Dynein Motors Self-Regulate Their Number of Actively Participating Motors.
Int J Mol Sci
; 22(16)2021 Aug 18.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34445598
ABSTRACT
Intra-cellular active transport by native cargos is ubiquitous. We investigate the motion of spherical nano-particles (NPs) grafted with flexible polymers that end with a nuclear localization signal peptide. This peptide allows the recruitment of several mammalian dynein motors from cytoplasmic extracts. To determine how motor-motor interactions influenced motility on the single microtubule level, we conducted bead-motility assays incorporating surface adsorbed microtubules and combined them with model simulations that were based on the properties of a single dynein. The experimental and simulation results revealed long time trajectories when the number of NP-ligated motors Nm increased, run-times and run-lengths were enhanced and mean velocities were somewhat decreased. Moreover, the dependence of the velocity on run-time followed a universal curve, regardless of the system composition. Model simulations also demonstrated left- and right-handed helical motion and revealed self-regulation of the number of microtubule-bound, actively transporting dynein motors. This number was stochastic along trajectories and was distributed mainly between one, two, and three motors, regardless of Nm. We propose that this self-regulation allows our synthetic NPs to achieve persistent motion that is associated with major helicity. Such a helical motion might affect obstacle bypassing, which can influence active transport efficiency when facing the crowded environment of the cell.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cell Movement
/
Dyneins
/
Cytoplasm
/
Nanoparticles
/
Microtubules
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Mol Sci
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Israel