Bending-wave propagation by microtubules and flagella (Q1106774)

The movement of an elastic filament in a viscous medium can be computed from the fourth-order nonlinear partial differential equation obtained by balancing bending moments at all points along the length of the filament. I have studied numerical solutions obtained for two situations of biological interest: For the movement of individual microtubules, the active force is generated by interaction between the microtubule and the substratum over which it is moving, and is directed along the axis of the microtubule. For the movement of flagella, the active forces are generated internally as sliding forces between adjacent members of a cylinder of nine microtubular doublets. Without some additional control assumptions, the forces will be balanced and no bending moments will be generated. The problem faced by investigators of flagellar motility is to determine the control mechanisms that operate to make the system asymmetric, so that active bending moments are generated.