Energy transformation in biological molecular motors

Biological molecular motors transform the metabolic free energy into the directed movement. The physical principles governing this transformation are very different from the principles underlying the manmade macroscopic motors. Theoretical analysis shows that the internal thermal diffusion in motor proteins is a key element of the process, and the chemical energy performs no mechanical work directly but instead it is used for rectifying the diffusion. A few specific motor systems are considered to illustrate the general principle. The principle of rectified thermal diffusion has recently received a great support from the single-molecule studies.