https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-023-00358-8
Regular Article - Living Systems
Effects of cytoskeletal network mesh size on cargo transport
1
Physics Department, Syracuse University, Crouse Drive, 13104, Syracuse, NY, USA
2
Department of Physics, University of California, Merced, 5200 North Lake Rd, 95343, Merced, CA, USA
Received:
29
June
2023
Accepted:
27
September
2023
Published online:
10
November
2023
Intracellular transport of cargoes in the cell is essential for the organization and functioning cells, especially those that are large and elongated. The cytoskeletal networks inside large cells can be highly complex, and this cytoskeletal organization can have impacts on the distance and trajectories of travel. Here, we experimentally created microtubule networks with varying mesh sizes and examined the ability of kinesin-driven quantum dot cargoes to traverse the network. Using the experimental data, we deduced parameters for cargo detachment at intersections and away from intersections, allowing us to create an analytical theory for the run length as a function of mesh size. We also used these parameters to perform simulations of cargoes along paths extracted from the experimental networks. We find excellent agreement between the trends in run length, displacement, and trajectory persistence length comparing the experimental and simulated trajectories.
This work is dedicated to Fyl Pincus. JLR (aka “Jenny Poop”) especially appreciates Fyl’s constant help to her as she navigated the slings and arrows of graduate school, ultimately becoming her advisor of record before graduation. Without Fyl, JLR would not have a PhD. In this article, AG and JLR wanted to evoke “le mode” of Fyl’s work, which always included simple, yet powerful analytical models to describe experimental results.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
