Modelling burnt bridge ratchets; optimizing their efficiency and motility

Synopsis

Molecular motors carry out tasks at scales, speeds and efficiencies largely unattainable for conventional motors. A class of molecular motors known as Burnt Bridge Ratchets (BBRs) are found all throughout biology, providing key functions such as the movement and organization of biomolecular cargo. The motion and operation of these motors are well characterized, however the efficiencies have not yet been fully elucidated. In this thesis I provide an overview of the characteristics of molecular motors, their physical properties and key metrics as well as review notable synthesized BBRs. I then detail several models of BBRs to characterize their motility and efficiency. In each of these models I run computational simulations to map out the parameter space and determine regions of optimal efficiency and motility. These models provide insights and experimentally testable predictions which can provide guidance for the optimization of synthetic molecular motors.