Multimodal regulation of myosin VI ensemble transport by cargo adaptor protein GIPC.

A range of cargo adaptor proteins are known to recruit cytoskeletal motors to distinct subcellular compartments. However, the structural impact of cargo recruitment on motor function is poorly understood. Here, we dissect the multimodal regulation of myosin VI activity through the cargo adaptor GAIP-interacting protein, C terminus (GIPC), whose overexpression with this motor in cancer enhances cell migration.

Single Molecule Studies Enabled by Model-Based Controller Design.

Optical tweezers have enabled important insights into intracellular transport through the investigation of motor proteins, with their ability to manipulate particles at the microscale, affording femto newton force resolution. Its use to realize a constant force clamp has enabled vital insights into the behavior of motor proteins under different load conditions. However, the varying nature of disturbances and the effect of thermal noise pose key challenges to force regulation.

Analysis of Heat Dissipation and Reliability in Information Erasure: A Gaussian Mixture Approach.

This article analyzes the effect of imperfections in physically realizable memory. Motivated by the realization of a bit as a Brownian particle within a double well potential, we investigate the energetics of an erasure protocol under a Gaussian mixture model. We obtain sharp quantitative entropy bounds that not only give rigorous justification for heuristics utilized in prior works, but also provide a guide toward the minimal scale at which an erasure protocol can be performed.

Memory erasure using time-multiplexed potentials.

We study the thermodynamics of a Brownian particle under the influence of a time-multiplexed harmonic potential of finite width. The memory storage mechanism and the erasure protocol based on time-multiplexed potentials are utilized to experimentally realize erasure with work performed close to Landauer's bound. We quantify the work performed on the system with respect to the duty ratio of time multiplexing, which also provides a handle for approaching reversible erasures.

Interrogating Emergent Transport Properties for Molecular Motor Ensembles: A Semi-analytical Approach.

Intracellular transport is an essential function in eucaryotic cells, facilitated by motor proteins-proteins converting chemical energy into kinetic energy. It is understood that motor proteins work in teams enabling unidirectional and bidirectional transport of intracellular cargo over long distances. Disruptions of the underlying transport mechanisms, often caused by mutations that alter single motor characteristics, are known to cause neurodegenerative diseases.