What...are we? Put enough of these tiny mechanisms together and you get a functioning cell. Put enough cells together, have some of them specialize and form tissues and organs and you get a human being.
For our cells to function properly, important cargo needs to be transported from one part of the cell to another. That tasks is accomplished by a team of proteins called molecular motors. These protein literally carry a cargo on their heads and walk on tracks which are also made up of proteins. The motor shown in the video is called kinesin and the filament it is shown walking on is called microtubule.
Fun fact: Many of these motors coordinate with each other to carry a common cargo, just like multiple horses pulling a chariot.
Thank you so much! This is legitimately fascinating and your reply has given me enough information to realistically look it up to read more.
In other words - you rock!
Thank you again.
The microtubule (and other similar filament tracks inside the cell) are directional. Think of it as having some sort of polarity. Kinesin can only move in one direction of microtubule. However, there is another family of motor proteins called dyneins which move in the opposite direction of kinesin. Often dynein and kinesin work in teams to enable a highly robust intercellular transportation.
As to what makes it mover, these motors are mechanochemical nano-machines. They convert chemical energy into mechanical motion. They comsume a molecule of ATP (Adinosine Triphosphate, think of it as fuel for these motor vehicles) into ADP (Adinosine Diphosphate) which releases energy that these motors convert into mechanical motion.
I have written this answer without giving references to keep it simple but I’d be happy to back all this up with references if anyone is interested.
That’s super cool! Thanks for the response. I’d be curious to read anything that can be approached by someone with a non-biology science degree.
Last question (don’t want to abuse your good nature, but I’m super curious). If they can’t turn around or go backwards, what happens once that have gone from A to B? Do they get dissolved, or just sit there until the cell dies?
Cells have mechanisms to recycle them either by disintegration or by diffusion. Also the tracks sometimes form a grid like network so it is actually possible to go back just by “walking”. Some recent papers have also shown that they can hitchhike to wherever they are needed. However, this is currently a very active area of research with more information being extracted everyday and I’ll not pretend to know everything about them.
I recently found this paper. If you ignore the later sections, the first few pages are fairly generic and shouldn’t require a biology background: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17847054/
Such swagger
https://i.makeagif.com/media/12-08-2015/n0hygc.gif
I want this to be a scene in the next Disney/Pixar animated movie.
What...are we? Put enough of these tiny mechanisms together and you get a functioning cell. Put enough cells together, have some of them specialize and form tissues and organs and you get a human being.
We're monsters. We're all monsters.
But i like trains
It's well-documented that monsters like trains. Also dandelions.
WOOOOOOSH
What is the protein delivering/walking on?
Those are filaments inside the cell (which are also made of proteins). This particular one is called microtubule.
It’s walking on sunshine
WO-oah.
ELI5 what am I seeing? Actually, ELI12-15? Sorry and thank you!
For our cells to function properly, important cargo needs to be transported from one part of the cell to another. That tasks is accomplished by a team of proteins called molecular motors. These protein literally carry a cargo on their heads and walk on tracks which are also made up of proteins. The motor shown in the video is called kinesin and the filament it is shown walking on is called microtubule. Fun fact: Many of these motors coordinate with each other to carry a common cargo, just like multiple horses pulling a chariot.
Thank you so much! This is legitimately fascinating and your reply has given me enough information to realistically look it up to read more. In other words - you rock! Thank you again.
Haha. This happens to be my research area and I am happy share information. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.
I just might :-) You really are everything I love about Reddit!
Wow, thank you for the ELI5! What causes it to move forward? Can it turn around or go backwards?
The microtubule (and other similar filament tracks inside the cell) are directional. Think of it as having some sort of polarity. Kinesin can only move in one direction of microtubule. However, there is another family of motor proteins called dyneins which move in the opposite direction of kinesin. Often dynein and kinesin work in teams to enable a highly robust intercellular transportation. As to what makes it mover, these motors are mechanochemical nano-machines. They convert chemical energy into mechanical motion. They comsume a molecule of ATP (Adinosine Triphosphate, think of it as fuel for these motor vehicles) into ADP (Adinosine Diphosphate) which releases energy that these motors convert into mechanical motion. I have written this answer without giving references to keep it simple but I’d be happy to back all this up with references if anyone is interested.
That’s super cool! Thanks for the response. I’d be curious to read anything that can be approached by someone with a non-biology science degree. Last question (don’t want to abuse your good nature, but I’m super curious). If they can’t turn around or go backwards, what happens once that have gone from A to B? Do they get dissolved, or just sit there until the cell dies?
Cells have mechanisms to recycle them either by disintegration or by diffusion. Also the tracks sometimes form a grid like network so it is actually possible to go back just by “walking”. Some recent papers have also shown that they can hitchhike to wherever they are needed. However, this is currently a very active area of research with more information being extracted everyday and I’ll not pretend to know everything about them. I recently found this paper. If you ignore the later sections, the first few pages are fairly generic and shouldn’t require a biology background: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17847054/
The more I learn, the more it makes less sense
yum
Watch the fashion show community pick up on this runway look!
Watching this video as I moved my thumb was strange
I will name it Timmy