Biophysical aspects and modelling of ciliary motility.

The dominance of viscous forces in the generation of propulsive thrust by cilia is emphasised. Fourier analysis indicates that ciliary bends consist of circular arcs joined by linear segments; this arc-line shape appears to be a property associated with the molecular mechanism responsible for bending the cilium and is unchanged by variations in the external viscous loading on the organelle. The flexibility of a computer-generated model of axonemal structure is demonstrated by the incorporation of recent data concerning the surface lattice of the microtubules. Computer simulations using the model show that predictions based on stochastic, rather than co-ordinated, dynein arm activity provide a qualitative match to experimental observations of microtubules gliding over fields of dynein molecules.