Kinesin and dynein smart nanomotors: Towards bio-nanorobotic systems

The majority of active transport in cells is driven by two classes of intelligent nanomotors, kinesin and dynein. The intelligence of kinesin and dynein nanomotors is the key toward developing intelligent bio-nanosystems for various nanotechnological applications. The first step in this regard is the ability to determine the structure, behavior, and properties of basic bio-nanocomponents, such as proteins. Therefore, in this paper we have described structures and mechanisms of kinesin and dynein protein nanomotors. Kinesin and dynein nanomotors are multi-protein complexes which are responsible for various dynamical processes for transporting single molecules over small distances to cell movement and growth. They convert the chemical energy into mechanical work directly rather than via an intermediate energy. Kinesin and dynein protein nanomotors are self-guiding systems. They have evolved to enable movement on their polymer filaments, either on cellular or supra-cellular levels, to recognize the direction of movement. Kinesin and dynein nanomotors have different properties, but in the cell they are known to cooperate and even to compete with each others during their function. It has been indicated that kinesin and dynein nanomotors can be defined as ideal bio-nanocomponents for bio-nanorobotic systems because of their small size, perfect structure, smart and high efficiency.