Related papers: Fluctuation analysis of mechanochemical coupling d…
Biochemistry and mechanics are closely coupled in cell adhesion. At sites of cell-matrix adhesion, mechanical force triggers signaling through the Rho-pathway, which leads to structural reinforcement and increased contractility in the actin…
Intracellular transport along microtubules or actin filaments, powered by molecular motors such as kinesins, dyneins or myosins, has been recently modeled using one-dimensional driven lattice gases. We discuss some generalizations of these…
We propose an alternative mechanism for intracellular cargo transport which results from motor induced longitudinal fluctuations of cytoskeletal microtubules (MT). The longitudinal fluctuations combined with transient cargo binding to the…
Mixtures of microtubules and molecular motors form active materials with diverse dynamical behaviors that vary based on their constituents' molecular properties. We map the non-equilibrium phase diagram of microtubules and tip-accumulating…
Molecular motors transduce chemical energy obtained from hydrolizing ATP into mechanical work exerted against an external force. We calculate their efficiency at maximum power output for two simple generic models and show that the…
Molecular machines are stochastic systems that catalyze the energetic processes keeping living cells alive and structured. Inspired by the examples of F1-ATP synthase and the bacterial flagellum, we present a minimal model of an externally…
Catalysis-driven synthetic molecular motors operate in a loose mechanochemical coupling regime, one in which a decomposition of a fuel molecule does not reliably produce a forward step. In that regime, stochastic backward steps can…
Myosin V is a two-headed processive motor protein that walks in a hand-over-hand fashion along actin filaments. When it encounters a filament branch, formed by the Arp2/3 complex, it can either stay on the straight mother filament, or…
Living cells adapt and respond actively to the mechanical properties of their environment. In addition to biochemical mechanotransduction, evidence exists for a myosin-dependent, purely mechanical sensitivity to the stiffness of the…
We present a study on filamentous actin solutions containing heavy meromyosin subfragments of myosin II motor molecules. We focus on the viscoelastic phase behavior and internal dynamics of such networks during ATP depletion. Upon…
Microscopic biological systems operate far from equilibrium, are subject to strong fluctuations, and are composed of many coupled components with interactions varying in nature and strength. Researchers are actively investigating the…
Cells accomplish diverse functions using the same molecular building blocks, from setting up cytoplasmic flows to generating mechanical forces. In particular, transitions between these non-equilibrium states are triggered by regulating the…
The type IV pilus retraction motor is found in many important bacterial pathogens. It is the strongest known linear motor protein and is required for bacterial infectivity. We characterize the dynamics of type IV pilus retraction in terms…
Motor-driven cargo transport is a complex phenomenon where multiple motor proteins attached on to a cargo engage in pulling activity, often leading to tug-of-war, displaying bidirectional motion. However, most mathematical and computational…
We study a Michaelis-Menten reaction for a single two-state enzyme molecule, whose transition rates between the two conformations are modulated by an harmonically oscillating external force. In particular, we obtain a range of optimal…
We model the dynamics of a processive or rotary molecular motor using a renewal processes, in line with the work initiated by Svoboda, Mitra and Block. We apply a functional technique to compute different types of multiple-time correlation…
Living systems at the molecular scale are composed of many constituents with strong and heterogeneous interactions, operating far from equilibrium, and subject to strong fluctuations. These conditions pose significant challenges to…
The actomyosin cortex is an active material that provides animal cells with a strong but flexible exterior, whose mechanics, including non-Gaussian fluctuations and occasional large displacements or cytoquakes, have defied explanation. We…
Forces in the actin cytoskeleton are generated by small groups of non-processive myosin II motors for which stochastic effects are highly relevant. Using a crossbridge model with the assumptions of fast powerstroke kinetics and equal load…
Biological transport is supported by collective dynamics of enzymatic molecules that are called motor proteins or molecular motors. Experiments suggest that motor proteins interact locally via short-range potentials. We investigate the…