A force transmission mechanism for a teleoperated surgical instrument includes a drive pulley, a drive cable operably coupled with the drive pulley, a driven pulley operably coupled with the drive cable, and an actuation member operably coupled to the driven pulley. The actuation member is configured to transmit force to actuate an end effector of the surgical instrument. Rotational motion of the driven pulley causes translational movement of the actuation element to actuate the end effector. Methods relate to operating a force transmission mechanism.