Related papers: Quantifying intermittent transport in cell cytopla…
A novel mechanism for the transport of microscale particles in viscous fluids is demonstrated. The mechanism exploits the trapping of such particles by rotational streaming cells established in the vicinity of an oscillating cylinder,…
We discuss various models of ion transport through cell membrane channels. Recent experimental data shows that sizes of ion channels are compared to those of ions and that only few ions may be simultaneously in any single channel.…
Intracellular transport is vital for the proper functioning and survival of a cell. Cargo (proteins, vesicles, organelles, etc.) is transferred from its place of creation to its target locations via molecular motor assisted transport along…
Escherichia coli bacterium is a rod-shaped organism composed of a complex double membrane structure. Knowledge of electric field driven ion transport through both membranes and the evolution of their induced permeabilization has important…
Currently, molecular tunnel junctions are recognized as important active elements of various nanodevices. This gives a strong motivation to study physical mechanisms controlling electron transport through molecules. Electron motion through…
The microtubule cytoskeleton is responsible for sustained, long-range intracellular transport of mRNAs, proteins, and organelles in neurons. Neuronal microtubules must be stable enough to ensure reliable transport, but they also undergo…
Nucleocytoplasmic transport is essential for cellular function, presenting a canonical example of rapid molecular sorting inside cells. It consists of a coordinated interplay between import/export of molecules in/out the cell nucleus. Here,…
In many biological systems, the movement of individual agents is commonly characterized as having multiple qualitatively distinct behaviors that arise from various biophysical states. This is true for vesicles in intracellular transport,…
The spatial localization or sequestering of motile cargo and their dispersal within cells is an important process in a number of physiological contexts. The morphology of the cytoskeletal network, along which active, motor-driven…
Can the different causes for disruption of intracellular transport be traced from the trajectories of the molecular motors on the cytoskeletal filaments? We will attempt to answer this important question in a Monte Carlo model of…
The gas transport through non-volatile random porous media is investigated numerically. We extend our previous research of the transport of molecules inside the uppermost layer of a cometary surface (Skorov and Rickmann, 1995; Skorov et al.…
We demonstrate the phenomenon of cumulative inertia in intracellular transport involving multiple motor proteins in human epithelial cells by measuring the empirical survival probability of cargoes on the microtubule and their detachment…
Intermediate filaments form an essential structural network, spread throughout the cytoplasm and play a key role in cell mechanics, intracellular organization and molecular signaling. The maintenance of the network and its adaptation to the…
Background: This study is mainly motivated by the need of understanding how the diffusion behaviour of a biomolecule (or even of a larger object) is affected by other moving macromolecules, organelles, and so on, inside a living cell,…
Intercellular signaling has an important role in organism development, but not all communication occurs using the same mechanism. Here, we analyze the energy efficiency of intercellular signaling by two canonical mechanisms: diffusion of…
The movement of intracellular cargo transported by molecular motors is commonly marked by switches between directed motion and stationary pauses. The predominant measure for assessing movement is effective diffusivity, which predicts the…
The cell cytoskeleton is a striking example of "active" medium driven out-of-equilibrium by ATP hydrolysis. Such activity has been shown recently to have a spectacular impact on the mechanical and rheological properties of the cellular…
The analysis of single particle trajectories plays an important role in elucidating dynamics within complex environments such as those found in living cells. However, the characterization of intracellular particle motion is often confounded…
The existence of temperature gradients within eukaryotic cells has been postulated as a source of natural convection in the cytoplasm, i.e. bulk fluid motion as a result of temperature-difference-induced density gradients. Recent…
Recent studies have suggested that the Nuclear Pore Complex (NPC) plays a significant role in mechanotransduction. When a force is exerted, the NPC's diameter widens, leading to an increased molecular flux into the nucleus. In this study,…