Polymer motors: Pushing out the front and pulling up the back

Alex Mogilner; George Oster

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2003.08.050

Polymer motors: Pushing out the front and pulling up the back

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Mechanical work in cells is performed by specialized motor proteins that operate in a continuous mechanochemical cycle. Less complex, but still efficient, 'one-shot' motors evolved based on the assembly and disassembly of polymers. We review the mechanisms of pushing and pulling by actin and microtubule filaments and the organizational principles of actin networks. We show how these polymer force generators are used for the propulsion of intracellular pathogens, protrusion of lamellipodia and mitotic movements. We discuss several examples of cellular forces generated by the assembly and disassembly of polymer gels.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	R721-R733
Journal	Current Biology
Volume	13
Issue number	18
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2003.08.050
State	Published - Sep 16 2003

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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10.1016/j.cub.2003.08.050

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title = "Polymer motors: Pushing out the front and pulling up the back",

abstract = "Mechanical work in cells is performed by specialized motor proteins that operate in a continuous mechanochemical cycle. Less complex, but still efficient, 'one-shot' motors evolved based on the assembly and disassembly of polymers. We review the mechanisms of pushing and pulling by actin and microtubule filaments and the organizational principles of actin networks. We show how these polymer force generators are used for the propulsion of intracellular pathogens, protrusion of lamellipodia and mitotic movements. We discuss several examples of cellular forces generated by the assembly and disassembly of polymer gels.",

author = "Alex Mogilner and George Oster",

note = "Funding Information: We apologize for not citing every colleague's work due to space limitations of this article. We thank T. Pollard and M. Dogterom for useful comments on the manuscript. A.M. was supported by NSF Grant DMS-0073828. G.O. was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM59875-02. ",

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T2 - Pushing out the front and pulling up the back

AU - Mogilner, Alex

AU - Oster, George

N1 - Funding Information: We apologize for not citing every colleague's work due to space limitations of this article. We thank T. Pollard and M. Dogterom for useful comments on the manuscript. A.M. was supported by NSF Grant DMS-0073828. G.O. was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM59875-02.

PY - 2003/9/16

Y1 - 2003/9/16

N2 - Mechanical work in cells is performed by specialized motor proteins that operate in a continuous mechanochemical cycle. Less complex, but still efficient, 'one-shot' motors evolved based on the assembly and disassembly of polymers. We review the mechanisms of pushing and pulling by actin and microtubule filaments and the organizational principles of actin networks. We show how these polymer force generators are used for the propulsion of intracellular pathogens, protrusion of lamellipodia and mitotic movements. We discuss several examples of cellular forces generated by the assembly and disassembly of polymer gels.

AB - Mechanical work in cells is performed by specialized motor proteins that operate in a continuous mechanochemical cycle. Less complex, but still efficient, 'one-shot' motors evolved based on the assembly and disassembly of polymers. We review the mechanisms of pushing and pulling by actin and microtubule filaments and the organizational principles of actin networks. We show how these polymer force generators are used for the propulsion of intracellular pathogens, protrusion of lamellipodia and mitotic movements. We discuss several examples of cellular forces generated by the assembly and disassembly of polymer gels.

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SP - R721-R733

JO - Current Biology

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Polymer motors: Pushing out the front and pulling up the back

Abstract

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