Related papers: Chemistry in Motion: Tiny Synthetic Motors
Biological molecular motors are high-performance nanomachines that convert chemical energy into mechanical motion via chemomechanical coupling. Their reaction cycles typically comprise a series of intermediate chemical states between the…
Anomalously slow passive diffusion, $\langle \delta x^2(t)\rangle\simeq t^{\alpha}$, with $0<\alpha<1$, of larger tracers such as messenger RNA and endogenous submicron granules in the cytoplasm of living biological cells has been…
Biological motors are marvels of nature that inspire creation of their synthetic counterparts with comparable nanoscale dimensions, high efficiency and diverse functions. Molecular motors have been synthesized, but obtaining nanomotors…
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…
A minimal design for a molecular swimmer is proposed that is a based on a mechanochemical propulsion mechanism. Conformational changes are induced by electrostatic actuation when specific parts of the molecule temporarily acquire net…
In nanoscale space and pico- to nanoseconds enormous physical, chemical and biological processes take place, while the motions of involved particles/molecules under thermal fluctuations are usually analyzed using the conventional theory of…
DNA nanostructures are made using synthetic DNA strands, the sequences of which are designed such that they will self-assemble into the desired form by hybridization of complementary domains. Various structures and devices have been…
Surface bound catalytic chemical reactions self-propel chemically active Janus particles. In the vicinity of boundaries, these particles exhibit rich behavior, such as the occurrence of wall-bound steady states of "sliding". Most active…
We theoretically study the self-propulsion of a laser-heated Janus particle in a near critical waterlutidine mixture, and relate its velocity vp and squirmer parameter \b{eta} to the wetting properties of its two hemispheres. For non-ionic…
Motor enzymes are remarkable molecular machines that use the energy derived from the hydrolysis of a nucleoside triphosphate to generate mechanical movement, achieved through different steps that constitute their kinetic cycle. These…
Behavior of the mixture of particles and dimers moving with different jump rates at reconstructed surfaces is described. Collective diffusion coefficient is calculated by the variational approach. Anisotropy of the collective particle…
Dynamic properties of molecular motors that fuel their motion by actively interacting with underlying molecular tracks are studied theoretically via discrete-state stochastic ``burnt-bridge'' models. The transport of the particles is viewed…
We present experimental and theoretical studies of the dynamics of molecular motors in microtubule arrays and asters. By solving a convection-diffusion equation we find that the density profile of motors in a two-dimensional aster is…
Microorganisms are able to overcome the thermal randomness of their surroundings by harvesting energy to navigate in viscous fluid environments. In a similar manner, synthetic colloidal microswimmers are capable of mimicking complex…
We investigate coarse-grained models of suspended self-thermophoretic microswimmers. Upon heating, the Janus spheres, with hemispheres made of different materials, induce a heterogeneous local solvent temperature that causes the…
Cytoskeletal motor proteins are involved in major intracellular transport processes which are vital for maintaining appropriate cellular function. The motor exhibits distinct states of motility: active motion along filaments, and…
Janus particles propel themselves by generating concentration gradients along their active surface. This induces a flow near the surface, known as the diffusio-osmotic slip, which propels the particle even in the absence of externally…
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…
Synthetic active colloidal systems are being studied extensively because of the diverse and often unusual phenomena these nonequilibrium systems manifest, and their potential applications in fields ranging from biology to material science.…
Recent experiments reveal both passive subdiffusion of various nanoparticles and anomalous active transport of such particles by molecular motors in the molecularly crowded environment of living biological cells. Passive and active…