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#flagella movement

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

Sea urchin -l

Sea urchin sperm propulsion relies on:

Sea urchin sperm propulsion depends on highly conserved flagellar axoneme structure composed of nine outer microtubule doublets surrounding central pair with dynein arms and nexin links. Dynein heavy chain is ATPase motor protein that hydrolyzes ATP to slide adjacent doublet microtubules relative to each other, converting chemical energy into mechanical bending motion of flagellum that propels cell forward. Activation by intracellular pH rise stimulates dynein ATPase catalytic activity. Specific mutations or chemical inhibitors of dynein such as vanadate abolish motility while actin, myosin an

Ref: Gibbons, J Cell Biol 1981, Dynein in flagellar motility; Alberts, Molecular Biology of Cell, Chapter 20: Axoneme.

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Cytoskeleton

How do dynein arms generate bending in cilia and flagella?

Generation of ciliary and flagellar bending explained by sliding filament model originally proposed by Afzelius and refined by Satir Summers Gibbons and later cryo EM studies visualizing dynein power stroke in situ. Axonemal dynein heavy chains anchored on A tubule of doublet hydrolyze ATP in AAA ring inducing 8 nm movement bending of linker domain that swings stalk toward microtubule plus tip causing interdoublet sliding up to several hundred nanometers in disintegrated axonemes. Because doublets anchored at basal body microtubule organizing center and interconnected by elastic nexin links le

Ref: Satir et al., J Cell Biol 2014; Summers & Gibbons 1971 – Dynein arms generate bending by ATP hydrolysis sliding doublets.

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