Molecular-Motor-Assisted Transport of Intracellular Particles: Effect of Diffusivity of Filament-Bound Particles
Andrey V. Kuznetsov
The purpose of this paper is to further develop the model of intracellular trafficking of organelles (intracellular particles) recently suggested by Smith and Simmons (2001). The new effect accounted for is the random component in the motion of intracellular particles attached to filaments. The motion of particles attached to inward and outward filaments occurs due to forces generated by molecular motors. It is assumed that the locomotion generated by molecular motors can be split into (average) deterministic and random components. It is suggested to model the stochastic component of motion induced by molecular motors by means of approximating it by a diffusive process. Utilizing this assumption, an extension of molecular-motor-assisted transport equations suggested in Smith and Simmons (2001) is developed. An analytical solution of the obtained equations for steady-state molecular-motor-assisted transport of intracellular organelles is obtained.