Related papers: Axon Membrane Skeleton Structure is Optimized for …
The mechanical properties of actin filaments are essential to their biological functions. Here, we introduce a highly coarse-grained model of actin filaments that preserves helicity and chirality while enabling mesoscale simulations. The…
Actomyosin contractility is essential for biological force generation, and is well understood in highly organized structures such as striated muscle. Additionally, actomyosin bundles devoid of this organization are known to contract both in…
Electron transfer (ET) in biological molecules such as peptides and proteins consists of electrons moving between well defined localized states (donors to acceptors) through a tunneling process. Here we present an analytical model for ET by…
High-index surfaces of silicon with adsorbed gold can reconstruct to form highly ordered linear step arrays. These steps take the form of a narrow strip of graphitic silicon. In some cases - specifically, for Si(553)-Au and Si(557)-Au - a…
Cortical actin networks are highly dynamic and play critical roles in shaping the mechanical properties of cells. The actin cytoskeleton undergoes significant reorganization over the course of the cell cycle, when cortical actin transitions…
Composites of flexible and rigid polymers are ubiquitous in biology and industry alike, yet the physical principles determining their mechanical properties are far from understood. Here, we couple force spectroscopy with large-scale…
The slime mould Physarum polycephalum has emerged as a model for self-organisation and coordination of contractile activity at large spatial scales. This self-organisation largely results from cytoplasmic flows generated by propagating…
The composite cytoskeleton, comprising interacting networks of semiflexible actin and rigid microtubules, actively generates forces and restructures using motor proteins such as myosins to enable key mechanical processes including cell…
We explore a generic mechanism whereby a droplet of active matter acquires motility by the spontaneous breakdown of a discrete symmetry. The model we study offers a simple representation of a "cell extract" comprising, e.g., a droplet of…
Myosin-II's rod-like tail drives filament assembly with a head arrangement that should generate equal and opposite contractile forces on actin--if one assumes that the filament is a symmetric bipole. Self-assembled myosin filaments are…
The crystal structure of solid-state matter greatly affects its electronic properties. For example in multilayer graphene, precise knowledge of the lateral layer arrangement is crucial, since the most stable configurations, Bernal and…
Neuronal circuits arise as axons and dendrites extend, navigate, and connect to target cells. Axonal growth, in particular, integrates deterministic guidance from substrate mechanics and geometry with stochastic fluctuations generated by…
Optical skyrmions have recently been constructed by tailoring electric or spin field distributions through the interference of multiple surface plasmon polaritons, offering promising features for advanced information processing, transport…
Equilibrium properties and localised magnon excitations are investigated in topologically distinct skyrmionic textures. The observed shape of the structures and their orientation on the lattice is explained based on their vorticities and…
Classical models for predicting current flow in excitable cells such as axons, originally proposed by Hodgkin and Huxley, rely on empirical voltage-gating parameters that quantify ion transport across sodium and potassium ion channels. We…
We adapt Fluorescence Correlation spectroscopy (FCS) formalism to the studies of the dynamics of semi-flexible polymers and derive expressions relating FCS correlation function to the longitudinal and transverse mean square displacements of…
Different experimental studies have reported anomalous diffusion in brain tissues and notably this anomalous diffusion is expressed through fractional derivatives. Axons are important to understand neurodegenerative diseases such as…
Ion channels are proteins with a hole down the middle embedded in cell membranes. Membranes form insulating structures and the channels through them allow and control the movement of charged particles, spherical ions, mostly Na+, K+, Ca++,…
The proper functions of tissues depend on the ability of cells to withstand stress and maintain shape. Central to this process is the cytoskeleton, comprised of three polymeric networks: F-actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments.…
Actin is one of the most studied cytoskeleton proteins showing a very rich span of structures. It can self-assemble actively into dynamical structures that govern the mechanical properties of the cell, its motility and its division.…