Walks of molecular motors in two and three dimensions

Theo M. Nieuwenhuizen, Stefan Klumpp, Reinhard Lipowsky

Published 2002-03-11Version 1

Molecular motors interacting with cytoskeletal filaments undergo peculiar random walks consisting of alternating sequences of directed movements along the filaments and diffusive motion in the surrounding solution. An ensemble of motors is studied which interacts with a single filament in two and three dimensions. The time evolution of the probability distribution for the bound and unbound motors is determined analytically. The diffusion of the motors is strongly enhanced parallel to the filament. The analytical expressions are in excellent agreement with the results of Monte Carlo simulations.