The effects of viscoelastic fluid on kinesin transport

Kinesins are molecular motors which transport various cargoes in the cytoplasm of cells and are involved in cell division. Previous models for kinesins have only targeted their in vitro motion. Thus, their applicability is limited to kinesin moving in a fluid with low viscosity. However, highly viscoelastic fluids have considerable effects on the movement of kinesin. For example, the high viscosity modifies the relation between the load and the speed of kinesin. While the velocity of kinesin has a nonlinear dependence with respect to the load in environments with low viscosity, highly viscous forces change that behavior. Also, the elastic nature of the fluid changes the velocity of kinesin. The new mechanistic model described in this paper considers the viscoelasticity of the fluid using subdiffusion. The approach is based on a generalized Langevin equation and fractional Brownian motion. Results show that a single kinesin has a maximum velocity when the ratio between the viscosity and elasticity is about 0.5. Additionally, the new model is able to capture the transient dynamics, which allows the prediction of the motion of kinesin under time varying loads.