Intracellular transport relies on the action of motor proteins, which work collectively to either carry small vesicles or pull membranes tubes along cytoskeletal filaments. Although the individual properties of kinesin-1 motors have been extensively studied, little is known on how several motors coordinate their action and spatially organize on the microtubule when pulling on fluid membranes. H...

The microtubule motors kinesin and dynein function collectively to drive vesicular transport. High-resolution tracking of vesicle motility in the cell indicates that transport is often bidirectional, characterized by frequent directional changes. However, the mechanisms coordinating the collective activities of oppositely oriented motors bound to the same cargo are not well understood. To exami...

Actin-based cellular protrusions are an ubiquitous feature of cells, performing a variety of critical functions ranging from cell-cell communication to cell motility. The formation and maintenance of these protrusions relies on the transport of proteins via myosin motors, to the protrusion tip. While tip-directed motion leads to accumulation of motors (and their molecular cargo) at the protrusi...

Key cellular processes such as cell division, membrane compartmentalization, and intracellular transport rely on motor proteins. Motors have been studied in detail on the single motor level such that information on their step size, stall force, average run length, and processivity are well known. However, in vivo, motors often work together, so that the question of their collective coordination...

As models for biological molecular motors, Brownian motors have been studied recently by many workers, and their physical properties such as velocity, efficiency, and so on, have been investigated. They have also attracted much interest in an application to nanoscale technology. It is significant to study more complex systems, that is, coupled Brownian motors, in detail, since Brownian motors w...

The effect of sequence heterogeneity on the dynamics of molecular motors is reviewed and analysed using a set of recently introduced lattice models. First, we review results for the influence of heterogeneous tracks such as a single strand of DNA or RNA on the dynamics of the motors. We stress how the predicted behaviour might be observed experimentally in anomalous drift and diffusion of motor...

BLDC motors are the workhorses in most light industrial applications. In some cases, Halleffect position sensors are used to simplify control logics for controlling these motors. BLDC motors, by the nature of currents through them, are somewhat noisy and a little less efficient. These disadvantages plus the cost of sensors are an integral part of these drive systems. However, if the motor can b...

In bidirectional transport, opposing motors frequently require each other for full activity. A new study suggests that mechanical coupling between motors is the key to this reciprocal activation.