2011 journal article

Method of modelling intracellular transport in branching neurites: application to axons and dendrites of Drosophila sensory neurons

COMPUTER METHODS IN BIOMECHANICS AND BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, 14(3), 239–251.

By: A. Kuznetsov n

author keywords: mathematical modelling; molecular motors; microtubules; fast axonal transport; neurons; axons and dendrites
MeSH headings : Animals; Axons / physiology; Biological Transport, Active; Biomechanical Phenomena; Cell Polarity; Computer Simulation; Dendrites / physiology; Drosophila / physiology; Mathematical Concepts; Microtubules / physiology; Models, Neurological; Neurites / physiology; Organelles / physiology; Sensory Receptor Cells / physiology
TL;DR: This paper develops a method of calculating the transport of intracellular organelles in neurons with branching neurites which is based on the Smith–Simmons equations of motor-assisted transport and demonstrates that the MT arrangement found in Drosophila dendrites results in much more efficient motor-driven transport than the structure with a mixed MT orientation in proximal dendrite. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

This paper develops a method of calculating the transport of intracellular organelles in neurons with branching neurites which is based on the Smith–Simmons equations of motor-assisted transport. The method is aimed at understanding the effects of microtubule (MT) polarity orientation in branching neurites on transport of organelles at the fundamental level. The method is applied to calculating the organelle transport in axons and dendrites of Drosophila neurons, using the map of MT orientation in such neurons developed by Stone et al. (Mol Biol Cell 19:4122–4129, 2008). The proximal dendrite is assumed to branch and form two distal dendrites. Two different MT polarity arrangements in a proximal dendrite are considered, and implications of these MT arrangements on organelle transport are analysed. It is demonstrated that the MT arrangement found in Drosophila dendrites (MTs have their minus ends out in a proximal dendrite) results in much more efficient motor-driven transport than the structure with a mixed MT orientation in proximal dendrites.