Related papers: Axon Membrane Skeleton Structure is Optimized for …
During neurodevelopment, neuronal axons navigate through the extracellular environment, guided by various cues to establish connections with distant target cells. Among other factors, axon trajectories are influenced by heterogeneities in…
The structural reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton is facilitated through the action of motor proteins that crosslink the actin filaments and transport them relative to each other. Here, we present a combined experimental-computational…
Symmetry is closely intertwined with the function, genetics, and chemical properties of multiprotein complexes. Here, we explore the relation between structural symmetry and the ability of membrane proteins to sense and induce membrane…
The fracture and severing of polymer chains plays a critical role in the failure of fibrous materials and the regulated turnover of intracellular filaments. Using continuum wormlike chain models, we investigate the fracture of semiflexible…
A thorough understanding of the neuroanatomy of peripheral nerves is required for a better insight into their function and the development of neuromodulation tools and strategies. In biophysical modeling, it is commonly assumed that the…
Subcellular protein complexes and organelles exhibit diverse dynamic behaviors that reflect the mechanical constraints and organization of the intracellular environment. Although some structures follow classical Brownian motion, many…
It is well known that many biochemical processes in the cell such as gene regulation, growth signals and activation of ion channels, rely on mechanical stimuli. However, the mechanism by which mechanical signals propagate through cells is…
Cell spreading requires a major reorganisation of the actin cytoskeleton, from a cortical structure to a lamellipodium where filaments are mostly parallel to the substrate. We propose a model inspired by the physics of nematic liquid…
We re-examine the internal structure of skyrmioniums stabilized in quasi-two-dimensional chiral magnets with easy-axis uniaxial anisotropy. Skyrmioniums are particle-like states of two nested skyrmions with opposite polarities contributing…
The slow advance of a crack in sodo-silicate glasses was studied at nanometer scale by in situ and real time atomic force microscopy (AFM) in a well controlled atmosphere. An enhanced diffusion of sodium ions in the stress gradient field at…
In the recent years we have shown that cylindrical biological membranes such as nerve axons under physiological conditions are able to support stable electromechanical pulses called solitons. These pulses share many similarities with the…
The interaction between actin filaments and microtubules is crucial for many eukaryotic cellular processes, such as, among others, cell polarization, cell motility and cellular wound healing. The importance of this interaction has long been…
Cell crawling requires the generation of intracellular forces by the cytoskeleton and their transmission to an extracellular substrate through specific adhesion molecules. Crawling cells show many features of excitable systems, such as…
We analyze both the static and dynamic fluctuation spectrum of the red-blood cell in a unified manner, using a simple model of the composite membrane. In this model, the two-dimensional spectrin network that forms the cytoskeleton is…
The physical basis of flagellar and ciliary beating is a major problem in biology which is still far from completely understood. The fundamental cytoskeleton structure of cilia and flagella is the axoneme, a cylindrical array of microtubule…
Actin filaments, crosslinkers and myosin molecular motors form contractile networks. For instance, the cell cortex is a thin network below the cell membrane ; contraction of the cell cortex allows cells to round up during cell division.…
An actin filament contacting myosin molecules as a functional unit of muscle contraction induces magnetic dipoles along the filament when ATP molecules to be hydrolyzed are available there. The induced magnetic dipoles are coherent over the…
Viewed under a fluorescence microscope, the actomyosin cytoskeleton presents vivid streaks of lines together with persistent oscillatory waves. Using an active hydrodynamic approach, we show how a uniform distribution of single or mixture…
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…
We demonstrate that our recently developed theory of electric field wave propagation in anisotropic and inhomogeneous brain tissues, which has been shown to explain a broad range of observed coherent synchronous brain electrical processes,…