Related papers: Continuum Electrostatics in Cell Biology
Interparticle interactions and bulk properties of colloidal suspensions can be substantially modified by addition of nanoparticles. Extreme asymmetries in size and charge between colloidal particles and nanoparticles present severe…
Nucleation, commonly associated with discontinuous transformations between metastable and stable phases, is crucial in fields as diverse as atmospheric science and nanoscale electronics. Traditionally, it is considered a microscopic process…
We propose a dynamical theory of how the chemical energy stored in a battery generates the electromotive force (emf). In this picture, the battery's half-cell acts as an engine, cyclically extracting work from its underlying chemical…
Biomembranes, which are mainly composed of neutral and charged lipids, exhibit a large variety of functional structures and dynamics. Here, we report a coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of the phase separation and…
We present a theory to investigate electro-kinetic behavior, namely, electrorotation and dielectrophoresis under alternating current (AC) applied fields for a pair of touching inhomogeneous colloidal particles and biological cells. These…
Microstructural changes in solids, driven by energy flows, do not develop in a static continuous space, such as the space considered in conventional plasticity models. The applied forces create an evolving internal energy landscape, which…
Most computer simulations of molecular dynamics take place under equilibrium conditions--in a closed, isolated system, or perhaps one held at constant temperature or pressure. Sometimes, extra tensions, shears, or temperature gradients are…
Electrostatic correlations play an important role in physics, chemistry and biology. In plasmas they lead to thermodynamic instability similar to the liquid-gas phase transition of simple molecular fluids. For charged colloidal suspensions…
We study the role of active coupling on the transport properties of homogeneously charged macromolecules in an infinitely dilute solution. An enzyme becomes actively bound to a segment of the macromolecule, exerting an electrostatic force…
Mesoscale molecular assemblies on the cell surface, such as cilia and filopodia, integrate information, control transport and amplify signals. Synthetic devices mimicking these structures could sensitively monitor these cellular functions…
Classical molecular dynamics simulations have recently become a standard tool for the study of electrochemical systems. State-of-the-art approaches represent the electrodes as perfect conductors, modelling their responses to the charge…
The ultrafast dynamics of charge carriers in solids plays a pivotal role in emerging optoelectronics, photonics, energy harvesting, and quantum technology applications. However, the investigation and direct visualization of such…
Electrochemical phenomena in biology often unfold in confined geometries where micrometer- to millimeter-scale domains coexist with nanometer-scale interfacial diffuse charge layers. We analyze a model lipid membrane-electrolyte system…
In nanoparticulate phase-separating electrodes, phase separation inside the particles can be hindered during their charge/discharge cycles even when a thermodynamic driving force for phase separation exists. In such cases, particles may…
Cell alignment often forms nematic order, which can lead to anomalous collective cell flow due to the so-called active force. Although it is appreciated that cell migration is driven by traction force, a quantitative evaluation of the…
Coagulation growth kinetics of nanoparticles in plasma is affected by inter-particle electrostatic forces due to charging phenomenon. In stationary plasmas, unipolar charging of particles results in retardation of particles growth and may…
To survive in ever-changing environments, living organisms need to continuously combine the ongoing external inputs they receive, representing present conditions, with their dynamical internal state, which includes influences of past…
Active diffusion of intracellular components is emerging as an important process in cell biology. This process is mediated by complex assemblies of molecular motors and cytoskeletal filaments that drive force generation in the cytoplasm and…
Biomolecular condensates are complex droplets comprising diverse molecules that interact using various mechanisms. Condensation is often driven by short-ranged attraction, but net charges can also mediate long-ranged repulsion. Using…
In living cells, molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work. Its thermodynamic energy efficiency, i.e. the ratio of output mechanical work to input chemical energy, is usually high. However, using two-state models, we…