Molecular motors are responsible for all long range transport and organization of organelles within cells. However, little is known about the interaction of multiple similar and dissimilar motors. In this thesis I describe experiments to probe the coordination of the motors kinesin and dynein which move towards the opposite ends of microtubules. Cargos they haul show bidirectional movement at short scales yet there is net transport in one direction or the other. Two distinct models for the bidirectional transport exist: regulation and a tug-of-war. In order to differentiate between them, kinesin-specific antibodies are injected into Drosophila embryos and the effect on transport of lipid droplets is quantified and compared to unperturbed motion. The function-blocking antibodies resulted in an increased run length of dynein-mediated transport and a decrease in that of kinesin. Furthermore, reduced velocities in both directions and a trend towards shorter pauses were observed. Comparison of these results to predictions the models provide for this scenario supports a tug-of-war model rather than regulation. / text

In this report the connection between p-harmonic functions and the tug-of-war game is presented and some applications are mentioned. Moreover, sufficient background information of solutions to the p-Laplace equation is given. And to finish, an example of the game is given with simulations. / I denna rapport presenteras kopplingen mellan p-harmoniska funktioner och spelet tug-of-war och några applikationer nämns. Utöver så ges tillräckligt med infomration om lösningar till p-Laplace ekvation. Som avslutning, ges ett exempel på spelet tillsammans med simuleringar.

Abstract is not available.

In biological cells, the long-range intracellular traffic is powered by molecular motors which transport various cargos along microtubule filaments. The microtubules possess an intrinsic direction, having a 'plus' and a 'minus' end. Some molecular motors such as cytoplasmic dynein walk to the minus end, while others such as conventional kinesin walk to the plus end. Cells typically have an isopolar microtubule network. This is most pronounced in neuronal axons or fungal hyphae. In these long and thin tubular protrusions, the microtubules are arranged parallel to the tube axis with the minus ends pointing to the cell body and the plus ends pointing to the tip. In such a tubular compartment, transport by only one motor type leads to 'motor traffic jams'. Kinesin-driven cargos accumulate at the tip, while dynein-driven cargos accumulate near the cell body. We identify the relevant length scales and characterize the jamming behaviour in these tube geometries by using both Monte Carlo simulations and analytical calculations. A possible solution to this jamming problem is to transport cargos with a team of plus and a team of minus motors simultaneously, so that they can travel bidirectionally, as observed in cells. The presumably simplest mechanism for such bidirectional transport is provided by a 'tug-of-war' between the two motor teams which is governed by mechanical motor interactions only. We develop a stochastic tug-of-war model and study it with numerical and analytical calculations. We find a surprisingly complex cooperative motility behaviour. We compare our results to the available experimental data, which we reproduce qualitatively and quantitatively. / In biologischen Zellen transportieren molekulare Motoren verschiedenste Frachtteilchen entlang von Mikrotubuli-Filamenten. Die Mikrotubuli-Filamente besitzen eine intrinsische Richtung: sie haben ein "Plus-" und ein "Minus-"Ende. Einige molekulare Motoren wie Dynein laufen zum Minus-Ende, während andere wie Kinesin zum Plus-Ende laufen. Zellen haben typischerweise ein isopolares Mikrotubuli-Netzwerk. Dies ist besonders ausgeprägt in neuronalen Axonen oder Pilz-Hyphen. In diesen langen röhrenförmigen Ausstülpungen liegen die Mikrotubuli parallel zur Achse mit dem Minus-Ende zum Zellkörper und dem Plus-Ende zur Zellspitze gerichtet. In einer solchen Röhre führt Transport durch nur einen Motor-Typ zu "Motor-Staus". Kinesin-getriebene Frachten akkumulieren an der Spitze, während Dynein-getriebene Frachten am Zellkörper akkumulieren. Wir identifizieren die relevanten Längenskalen und charakterisieren das Stauverhalten in diesen Röhrengeometrien mit Hilfe von Monte-Carlo-Simulationen und analytischen Rechnungen. Eine mögliche Lösung für das Stauproblem ist der Transport mit einem Team von Plus- und einem Team von Minus-Motoren gleichzeitig, so dass die Fracht sich in beide Richtungen bewegen kann. Dies wird in Zellen tatsächlich beobachtet. Der einfachste Mechanismus für solchen bidirektionalen Transport ist ein "Tauziehen" zwischen den beiden Motor-Teams, das nur mit mechanischer Interaktion funktioniert. Wir entwickeln ein stochastisches Tauzieh-Modell, das wir mit numerischen und analytischen Rechnungen untersuchen. Es ergibt sich ein erstaunlich komplexes Motilitätsverhalten. Wir vergleichen unsere Resultate mit den vorhandenen experimentellen Daten, die wir qualitativ und quantitativ reproduzieren.