Related papers: On the excitation of action potentials by protons …
Prior to receiving visual stimuli, spontaneous, correlated activity called retinal waves drives activity-dependent developmental programs. Early-stage waves mediated by acetylcholine (ACh) manifest as slow, spreading bursts of action…
Stimulated by ongoing discussions about the relevance of mechanical motion in the propagation of nerve signals capillary waves of water-based electrolytes in elastic tubular systems are considered as an essential ingredient. Their…
A new approach has been used to explain the experimental data for the $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C system over a wide energy range in the laboratory system from 32.0 MeV to 126.7 MeV. This new coupled-channels based approach involves replacing the…
An action potential is typically described as a purely electrical change that propagates along the membrane of excitable cells. However, recent experiments have demonstrated that non-linear acoustic pulses that propagate along lipid…
We analyse a generic motility model, with the motility mechanism arising by contractile stress due to the interaction of myosin and actin. A hydrodynamic active polar gel theory is used to model the cytoplasm of a cell and is combined with…
Many cellular processes require a polarization axis which generally initially emerges as an inhomogeneous distribution of molecular markers in the cell. We present a simple analytical model of a general mechanism of cell polarization taking…
Excitability is an attribute of life, and is a driving force in the descent of complexity. Cellular electrical activity as realized by membrane proteins that act as either channels or transporters is the basis of excitability. Electrical…
It is suggested that the propagation of the action potential is accompanied by an axoplasmic pressure pulse propagating in the axoplasm along the axon length. The pressure pulse stretch-modulates voltage-gated Na (Nav) channels embedded in…
We suggest that the propagation of the action potential is driven by a pressure pulse propagating in the axoplasm along the axon length. The pressure pulse mechanically activates Na ion channels embedded in the axon membrane. This…
In the mimetic membrane system of phosphatidylcholine bilayers, thickening (pre-critical behavior, anomalous swelling) of the bilayers is observed, in the vicinity of the main transition, which is non-linear with temperature. The sterols…
Biological systems tightly regulate their physiological state using control signals. This includes the actomyosin cytoskeleton, a contractile active gel that consumes chemical free energy to drive many examples of cellular mechanical…
Catalytically active enzymes have recently been observed to exhibit enhanced diffusion. In a recent work [C. Riedel et al., Nature 517, 227 (2015)], it has been suggested that this phenomenon is correlated with the degree of exothermicity…
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…
Here a viable and never before investigated mechanism of propagation of spikes along neurons is proposed. In the following, velocity of propagation of small-amplitude pressure waves through the cytoplasmic interior of myelinated and…
In an ongoing debate on the physical nature of the action potential, one group adheres to the electrical model of Hodgkin and Huxley, while the other describes the action potential as a non-linear acoustic pulse propagating within an…
Active fluids are intrinsically out-of-equilibrium systems due to the internal energy injection of the active constituents. We show here that a transition from a motion-less isotropic state towards a flowing polar one can be possibly driven…
We theoretically study the polarizability and the interactions of neutral complexes consisting of a semi-flexible polyelectrolyte adsorbed onto an oppositely charged spherical colloid. In the systems we studied, the bending energy of the…
A new stimulation paradigm is presented for the stimulation of nerve cells by extracellular electric currents. In the new paradigm stimulation is achieved with the current spike induced by a voltage step whenever the voltage step is applied…
Enzymes have been recently found to exhibit enhanced diffusion due to their catalytic activities. A recent experiment [C. Riedel et al., Nature 517, 227 (2015)] has found evidence that suggests this phenomenon might be controlled by the…
Tissues of living cells are a prime example of active fluids. There is experimental evidence that tissues generate extensile active stress even though their constituting cells are contractile. Fluctuating forces that could result from…