Silencer Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 I've seen movies of individual cells and such moving about with their little cilia or fimbria and such, and I've always wondered how they actually do it. Same with muscle cells. I mean, they are just some bags of protein with water inside! What actually causes those proteins to move? To me it's the same as supposing that the molecules in some chemistry experiment are going to start swimming around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drug addict Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 It's all energy (ATP) dependent. Muscle fibres consist of actin and myosin. Hydrolysis of ATP to ADP + Pi causes a conformational change in the myosin protein which causes a shortening of the muscle. It's a bit tricky to explain in words, so I'll try and find some diagrams. I assume the principle is similar for other contractile proteins, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuelloDiablo Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 Well, it's very different for the various types of molecular locomotion.First, it's important to understand that the locomotion organs are not single protein, but a system of proteins. Secondly, it differs from system to system what kind of energy is being used: for instance, the eubacterial flagellum for instance, utilizes a gradiant of protons to spin its filament, while cilia uses ATP for moving the dynein-arms. For extra info check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilium I mean, they are just some bags of protein with water inside! What actually causes those proteins to move? To me it's the same as supposing that the molecules in some chemistry experiment are going to start swimming around! Well not really - you give the cells to little credit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 the cilia and flagella beat due to ATP motion. i really dont want to get into the biophysics of it because it would take several pages to explain and i dont even know most of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuelloDiablo Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 flagella beat due to ATP motion While archeal flagella probably uses ATP, the eubacterial flagellum is powered by a proton flow. This flow is generated by the cell itself through the electron transport chain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ecoli Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 It all comes back to respiration, and the creation of ATP from a proton gradient. Muscles use the actin-myosin to expand/contract. I assume cilia etc., use a similar system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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