Modelling the step size distribution of myosin VI

Myosin VI is a motor protein that carries intracellular cargo along actin filaments.  The processive motion of myosin VI consists of sequential steps that have been measured to have a large variation in size:  the motor has been measured to make long “hand-over-hand” steps, short “inchworm” steps, as well as backwards steps.  We have developed a single model that allows us to study this multifaceted stepping behavior.   We can study the effects of external parameters on the dynamics of the motor and investigate the evolutionary advantages of the large step size variation.