Related papers: Microtubule-based active fluids with improved life…
Active gels are a class of biologically-relevant material containing embedded agents that spontaneously generate forces acting on a sparse filament network. In vitro experiments of protein filaments and molecular motors have revealed a…
Fluid-structure interactions between active and passive components are important for many biological systems to function. A particular example is chromatin in the cell nucleus, where ATP-powered processes drive coherent motions of the…
Biomolecular condensates are formed via liquid-liquid phase separation of proteins, often together with nucleic acids, typically driven by interactions between low-affinity binding sites. The computational study of such condensates that…
Cytoskeletal filaments transported by surface immobilized molecular motors with one end pinned to the surface have been observed to spiral in a myosin-driven actin 'gliding assay'. The radius of the spiral was shown to scale with motor…
Hydrodynamic equations for an isotropic solution of active polar filaments are derived from a microscopic mean-field model of the forces exchanged between motors and filaments. We find that a spatial dependence of the motor stepping rate…
Kinesin and related motor proteins utilize ATP fuel to propel themselves along the external surface of microtubules in a processive and directional fashion. We show that the observed step-like motion is possible through time varying charge…
Engineering synthetic materials that mimic the remarkable complexity of living organisms is a fundamental challenge in science and technology. We study the spatiotemporal patterns that emerge when an active nematicfilm of microtubules and…
In this paper we address some modelling issues related to biological growth. Our treatment is based on a recently-proposed, general formulation for growth within the context of Mixture Theory (Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids,…
Biological systems often involve the self-assembly of basic components into complex and function- ing structures. Artificial systems that mimic such processes can provide a well-controlled setting to explore the principles involved and also…
Equilibrium self-assembly and conventional materials processing techniques fall far short of mimicking dynamic self-actuating processes that are commonplace throughout biology. To bridge the gap between living and synthetic matter, we study…
Transport at microscopic length scales is essential in biological systems and various technologies, including microfluidics. Recent experiments achieved self-organized transport phenomena in microtubule active matter using light to modulate…
Many biological systems consist of self-motile and passive agents both of which contribute to overall functionality. However, there are very few studies of the properties of such mixtures. Here we formulate a model for mixtures of…
Metamaterials are structures composed of repeating unit-cells which enable macro-scale properties not found in nature. Since metamaterials are typically solid structures with predetermined interconnections, it is challenging to leverage…
Event-driven molecular dynamics simulations are carried out on two rigid body systems which differ in the symmetry of their molecular mass distributions. First, simulations of methane in which the molecules interact via discontinuous…
Biomolecular motor proteins that generate forces by consuming chemical energy obtained from ATP hydrolysis are pivotal for organizing broad cytoskeletal structures in living cells. The control of such cytoskeletal structures benefits…
We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the behavior of supercooled water subject to different stimuli from a diluted azobenzene hydrophobic probe. When the molecular motor does not fold, it acts as a passive probe, modifying the…
Active turbulence is a paradigmatic and fascinating example of self-organized motion at large scales occurring in active matter. We employ massive hydrodynamic simulations of suspensions of resolved model microswimmers to tackle the…
In the present work, we first introduce a general framework for modelling complex multiscale fluids and then focus on the derivation and analysis of a new hybrid continuum-kinetic model. In particular, we combine conservation of mass and…
We study a model of synthetic molecular motor - a [3]-catenane consisting of two small macrocycles mechanically interlocked with a bigger one - subjected to a time-dependent driving using stochastic thermodynamics. The model presents…
Active fluids generate spontaneous, often chaotic mesoscale flows. Harnessing these flows to drive embedded soft materials into structures with controlled length scales and lifetimes is a key challenge at the interface between the fields of…