Active fluctuations of axoneme oscillations scale with number of dynein motors.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

B CUBE-Center for Molecular Bioengineering, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden 01307, Germany.

Published: November 2024


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Article Abstract

Fluxes of energy generate active forces in living matter, yet also active fluctuations. As a canonical example, collections of molecular motors exhibit spontaneous oscillations with frequency jitter caused by nonequilibrium phase fluctuations. We investigate phase fluctuations in reactivated axonemes, which are accessible to direct manipulation. We quantify the precision of axonemal oscillations after controlled chemical removal of dynein motors, providing an experimental test for the theory prediction that the quality factor of motor oscillations should increase with motor number. Our quantification reveals specialized roles of inner and outer arm dynein motors. This supports a model in which inner dyneins serve as master pace-makers, to which outer arm dyneins become entrained, consistent with recent insight provided by structural biology.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11573680PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406244121DOI Listing

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