Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Germany.
Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2430:205-218. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1983-4_13.
The propulsion of motile cells such as sperms and the transport of fluids on cell surfaces rely on oscillatory bending of cellular appendages that can perform periodic oscillations. These structures are flagella and cilia. Their beating is driven by the interaction between microtubules and motor proteins and the mechanism regulating this is still a puzzle. One approach to address this issue is the assembling of synthetic minimal systems by using natural building blocks, e.g., microtubules and kinesin motors, which undergo persistent oscillation in the presence of ATP. An example of an autonomous molecular system is reported in this chapter. It dynamically self-organizes through its elasticity and the interaction with the environment represented by the active forces exerted by motor proteins. The resulting motion resembles the beating of sperm flagella. Assembling such minimal systems able to mimic the behavior of complex biological structures might help to unveil basic mechanisms underlying the beating of natural cilia and flagella.
游动细胞（如精子）的推进和细胞表面流体的运输依赖于能够进行周期性振荡的细胞附属物的振荡弯曲。这些结构是鞭毛和纤毛。它们的运动是由微管和动力蛋白之间的相互作用驱动的，而调节这种相互作用的机制仍然是一个谜。解决这个问题的一种方法是使用天然构建块（例如微管和驱动蛋白）组装合成的最小系统，这些系统在存在 ATP 的情况下会持续振荡。本章报道了一个自主分子系统的例子。它通过其弹性和与环境的相互作用（由驱动蛋白施加的主动力表示）动态地自我组织。产生的运动类似于精子鞭毛的拍打。组装这种能够模拟复杂生物结构行为的最小系统，可能有助于揭示自然纤毛和鞭毛拍打运动的基本机制。
