Orienting Actin Filaments for Directional Motility of Processive Myosin Motors

Abstract

To utilize molecular motors in manmade systems, it is necessary to control the motors' motion. We describe a technique to orient actin filaments so that their barbed ends point in the same direction, enabling same-type motors to travel unidirectionally. Myosin-V and myosin-VI were observed to travel, respectively, toward and away from the filaments' barbed ends. When both motors were present, they occasionally passed each other while "walking" in opposite directions along single actin filaments.