Subcellular Processes
In a recent paper, Michael J. Saxton proposes to interpret as anomalous diffusion the occurrence of apparent transient sub-diffusive regimes in mean-squared displacements (MSD) plots, calculated from experimental trajectories of molecules…
The plasma membrane of human red blood cells consists of a lipid bilayer attached to a regular network of underlying cytoskeletal polymers. We model this system at a dynamic coarse-grained level, treating the bilayer as an elastic sheet and…
Fueled by the hydrolysis of ATP, the motor protein kinesin literally walks on two legs along the biopolymer microtubule. The number of accidental backsteps that kinesin takes appears to be much larger than what one would expect given the…
In mammals, dosage compensation of X linked genes in female cells is achieved by inactivation of one of their two X chromosomes which is randomly chosen. The earliest steps in X-inactivation (XCI), namely the mechanism whereby cells count…
Mechanochemical coupling was studied for two different types of myosin motors in cells: myosin V, which carries cargo over long distances by as a single molecule; and myosin II, which generates a contracting force in cooperation with other…
In this article, we study the kinetics of reversible ligand binding to receptors on a spherical cell surface using a self-consistent stochastic theory. Binding, dissociation, diffusion and rebinding of ligands are incorporated into the…
The utilization of multiple phosphorylation sites in regulating a biological response is ubiquitous in cell signaling. If each site contributes an additional, equivalent binding site, then one consequence of an increase in the number of…
Ongoing sub-cellular oscillation of Min proteins is required to block minicelling in E. coli. Experimentally, Min oscillations are seen in newly divided cells and no minicells are produced. In model Min systems many daughter cells do not…
The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 90% of the human population, and is the cause of several both serious and mild diseases. It is a tumorivirus, and has been widely studied as a model system for gene (de)regulation in human. A…
We investigate the mechanisms of histone sliding and detachment with a stochastic model that couples thermally-induced, passive histone sliding with active motor-driven histone unwrapping. Analysis of a passive loop or twist defect-mediated…
We present a simple method for determining the exact noise power spectra in linear chemical reaction networks. We apply the method to networks which are representative of biochemical processes such as gene expression and signal detection.…
The collective dynamics of $N$ weakly coupled processive molecular motors are considered theoretically. We show, using a discrete lattice model, that the velocity-force curves strongly depend on the effective dynamic interactions between…
Motivated by the formation of ring-like filament structures in the cortex of plant and animal cells, we study the dynamics of a two-dimensional layer of cytoskeletal filaments and motor proteins near a surface by a general continuum theory.…
Successful cell division requires a tight regulation of chromosome motion via the activity of molecular motors. Many of the key players at the origin of the forces generating the movement have been identified, but their spatial and temporal…
L-selectin mediated tethers result in leukocyte rolling only above a threshold in shear. Here we present biophysical modeling based on recently published data from flow chamber experiments (Dwir et al., J. Cell Biol. 163: 649-659, 2003)…
Motor proteins that specifically interact with the ends of cytoskeletal filaments can induce filament depolymerization. A phenomenological description of this process is presented. We show that under certain conditions motors dynamically…
Based on experimental observations it is known that various biological cells exhibit a persistent random walk during migration on flat substrates. The persistent random walk is characterized by `stop-and-go' movements : unidirectional…
A significant part of the thin layers of counter-ions adjacent to the exterior and interior surfaces of a cell membrane form quasi-two-dimensional (2D) layers of mobile charge. Collective charge density oscillations, known as plasmon modes,…
The charges in live cells interact with or produce electric fields, which results in enormous dielectric responses, flexoelectricity, and related phenomena. Here we report on a contraction of schizosacchraoymces pombe (fission yeast) cells…
In E. coli, accurate cell division depends upon the oscillation of Min proteins from pole to pole. We provide a model for the polar localization of MinD based only on diffusion, a delay for nucleotide exchange, and different rates of…