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Measurement of Force-Dependent Release Rates of Cytoskeletal Motors

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Optical Tweezers

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1486))

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Abstract

Optical tweezers permit measuring motor–filament rupture forces with piconewton sensitivity. For deeper structural and mechanistic understanding of motors, different structural constraints can be induced by pulling motor proteins at various positions and manipulating the direction of the exerted force. Here, we present an optical-trapping approach to investigate the effect of the magnitude and direction of tension applied to the linker element of cytoskeletal motors on motor–filament interactions. Using this approach, force-dependent microtubule release rates of monomeric kinesins can be directly measured by pulling on kinesin’s “neck linker” with a constant force.

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Acknowledgements

We thank V. Belyy, for helpful discussions. This work was supported by a grant from the NIH (GM094522) and the NSF (MCB-1055017) to AY.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Sinan Can

  2. Department of Physics and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Ahmet Yildiz

Authors
  1. Sinan Can
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  2. Ahmet Yildiz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ahmet Yildiz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology & Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Arne Gennerich

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Can, S., Yildiz, A. (2017). Measurement of Force-Dependent Release Rates of Cytoskeletal Motors. In: Gennerich, A. (eds) Optical Tweezers. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1486. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6421-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6421-5_18

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-6419-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-6421-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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