Contact: Melanie J.I. Mueller
mmueller@mpikg.mpg.de
49-331-567-9623
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Tug of War in the Cells

Caption: The competition between molecular motors: A blue cargo is transported by two teams of molecular motors moving along the yellow microtubule. The red team of motors is pulling to the right towards the positive end, while the green team is pulling to the left towards the minus end. When both teams pull (in the center), they cancel each other out so the cargo hardly moves forwards. As soon as one team gains the upper hand, it moves quickly as the opposing motors are removed from the microtubule.

Credit: Melanie Mueller / MPI of Colloids and Interfaces

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