Biological Springs and Ratchets
Aug 2012
Biological movements are brought about in various ways, and not all of these involve the action of motor proteins. Apart from motor proteins, biological movements can be brought about by components that act like springs and ratchets. Biological springs store potential energy in various protein filament conformations, while biological ratchets act by biasing random Brownian motion and turning it into directional polymerization.
Related Publications
Power-limited contraction dynamics of Vorticella convallaria: an ultrafast biological spring
A. Upadhyaya, M. Baraban, J. Wong, P. Matsudaira, A. van Oudenaarden and L. Mahadevan, Biophysical Journal , 94, 265, 2008.
[View PDF] [Download PDF]
Prof. L. Mahadevan
