Effective Potential of a Two-State Model for Molecular Motor

We study force generation and motion of molecular motorsusing a simple two-state model in the paper. Asymmetric and periodicpotential is adopted to describe the interaction between motor proteins andfilaments that are periodic and polar. The current and the slope of theeffective potential as functions of the temperature and transition rates arecalculated in the two-state model. The ratio of the slope of the effectivepotential to the current is also calculated. It is shown that the directed motion of motor proteins is relevant to the effective potential. The slope of the effective potential corresponds to an average force. Thenon-vanishing force therefore implies that detailed balance is broken in theprocess of transition between different states.