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The classic essential text on anatomy...

Cell Motility

Muscle Contraction and Hills Model

V F Murphy< a> Monday 10th May 2004

Structure of Muscle

Muscle is made up of fibrous components termed myofibrils. Each of these is formed by a large number of sarcomeres. Each sarcomere feature repeated bands of Actin and Myosin, causing a banded apperance during microscopy.

The Sliding Filament Model

Huxley proposed that not only did muscles contract by changing the degree of overlap between the actin and myosin filaments, but the force was determined by the degree of such overlap.

Testing the Sliding Filament Mod…

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How Cillia and Flagella Work

V F Murphy< a> Wednesday 21st April 2004

Microtubles are key to the movement of cells, especially cellular appendages. Cillia and Flagella are the principle appendages concerned with such motion.

Cillia are intracellular structures, as they are within the plasma membrane, however, they are extrusions from the shape of the cell into the surrounding environment. Cillia generally are grouped on the surface of cells, termed Cilliated Cells.

Cilia move in a coordinated way, and with a single motion described as 'oar like '. The cycle …

How Kinesin Moves

V F Murphy< a> Monday 19th April 2004

Kinesins typically consist of two large globular heads that allow attachment to microtubules, a central coiled region, and a region termed light-chain, which connects the kinesin to the intracellular component to be moved.

A polystyrine bead kinesin ATP combination was used to evaluate the velocity of kinesin anterograde transport (8nm per step, 2 micrometers per second), and both glass fibre and optical techniques were used to evaluate the force associated with this ( 8 pN forward), see re…