Related papers: A Monte Carlo study of ligand-dependent integrin s…
We optically drive a microsphere at constant speed through entangled actin networks of 0.2 - 1.4 mg/ml at rates faster than the critical rate controlling the onset of a nonlinear response. By measuring the resistive force exerted on the…
Compliant environments can mediate interactions between mechanically active cells like fibroblasts. Starting with a phenomenological model for the behaviour of single cells, we use extensive Monte Carlo simulations to predict non-trivial…
To adapt their behaviour in changing environments, cells sense concentrations by binding external ligands to their receptors. However, incorrect ligands may bind nonspecifically to receptors, and when their concentration is large, this…
Mechanical force regulates the formation and growth of cell-cell junctions. Cadherin is a prominent homotypic cell adhesion molecule that plays a crucial role in establishment of intercellular adhesion. It is known that the transmitted…
Apoptotic death pathways are frequently activated by death ligand induction and subsequent activation of the membrane proximal signaling module. Death receptors cluster upon binding to death ligands, leading to formation of a membrane…
The interaction of the actin cytoskeleton with cell-substrate adhesions is necessary for cell migration. While the trajectories of motile cells have a stochastic character, investigations of cell motility mechanisms rarely elaborate on the…
We consider a quantum many-body lattice system that is coupled to ancillary degrees of freedom (``detectors''), which are periodically measured by means of strong projective measurements. The concentration $\rho_a$ of ancillae and their…
Grafting linkers with open ends of complementary single-stranded DNA makes a flexible tool to tune interactions between colloids,which facilitates the design of complex self-assembly structures. Recently, it has been proposed to coat…
One of the major functions of RecA protein in the cell is to bind single-stranded DNA exposed upon damage, thereby triggering the SOS repair response.We present fluorescence anisotropy measurements at the binding onset, showing enhanced DNA…
Intracellular signaling often arises from ligand-induced oligomerization of cell surface receptors. This oligomerization or clustering process is fundamentally a cooperative behavior between near-neighbor receptor molecules; the properties…
We consider a theoretical model for membranes with adhesive receptors, or stickers, that are actively switched between two conformational states. In their 'on'-state, the stickers bind to ligands in an apposing membrane, whereas they do not…
It has been recently argued that the depletion attraction may play an important role in different aspects of the cellular organization, ranging from the organization of transcriptional activity in transcription factories to the formation of…
Scaffolding proteins that direct the assembly of multiple kinases into a spatially localized signaling complex are often essential for the maintenance of an appropriate biological response. Although scaffolds are widely believed to have…
Cell migration is often accompanied by collisions with other cells, which can lead to cessation of movement, repolarization, and migration away from the contact site - a process termed contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL). During CIL, the…
During migration cells exhibit a rich variety of seemingly random migration patterns, which makes unraveling the underlying mechanisms that control cell migration a daunting challenge. For efficient migration cells require a mechanism for…
We study the adsorption of primitive model electrolytes into a layered slit system using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The slit system contains a series of charged membranes. The ions are forbidden from the membranes, while they…
We utilize a multiscale modeling framework to study the effect of shape, size and ligand composition on the efficacy of binding of a ligand-coated-particle to a substrate functionalized with the target receptors. First, we show how…
Using Wang-Landau sampling with suitable Monte Carlo trial moves (pull moves and bond-rebridging moves combined) we have determined the density of states and thermodynamic properties for a short sequence of the HP protein model. For free…
Using a combination of analytical theory, Monte Carlo simulations, and three dimensional self-consistent field calculations, we study the equilibrium properties and the switching behavior of adsorption-active polymer chains included in a…
Targeted drug delivery relies on two physical processes: the selective binding of a therapeutic particle to receptors on a specific cell membrane, followed by transport of the particle across the membrane. In this article, we address some…