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Granular chain packings exhibit a striking emergent strain-stiffening behavior despite the individual looseness of the constitutive chains. Using indentation experiments on such assemblies, we measure an exponential increase in the…
The spatial organization of complex biochemical reactions is essential for the regulation of cellular processes. Membrane-less structures called foci containing high concentrations of specific proteins have been reported in a variety of…
We discuss the role of the long-range elastic interaction between the contacts inside an inhomogeneous frictional interface. The interaction produces a characteristic elastic correlation length $\lambda_c = a^2 E / k_c$ (where $a$ is the…
A coarse-grained computational model is used to investigate the effect of a fluid membrane on patchy-particle assembly into biologically-relevant structures motivated by viral cores and clathrin. For cores, we demonstrate a non-monotonic…
The review is devoted to the theory of collective and it local pinning effects in various disordered non-linear driven systems. Although the emphasis is put on charge and spin density waves and magnetic domain walls, the theory has also…
In biological settings membranes typically interact locally with other membranes or the extracellular matrix in the exterior, as well as with internal cellular structures such as the cytoskeleton. Characterization of the dynamic properties…
The rigid to floppy transitions and the associated intermediate phase in glasses are studied in the case where the local structure is not fully determined from the macroscopic concentration. The approach uses size increasing cluster…
Using numerical simulations, we investigate the effects of Marangoni stresses induced by surfactants on the effective slip length of liquid-infused surfaces (LIS) with transverse grooves. The surfactants are assumed soluble in the external…
We present a multi-scale model to study the attachment of spherical particles with a rigid core, coated with binding ligands and in equilibrium with the surrounding, quiescent fluid medium. This class of fluid-immersed adhesion is…
Collagen fibrils are the building block of many biological tissues, which viability depend on the fibrils properties. Altered properties of collagen fibrils are central to the appearance of many diseases, while physiological or native…
We study the dynamics of extended rod-like bodies in (or associated with) membranes and films. We demonstrate a striking difference between the mobilities in films and bulk fluids, even when the dissipation is dominated by the fluid stress:…
Spatially localised defect structures emerge spontaneously in a hydrodynamic description of an active polar fluid comprising polar 'actin' filaments and 'myosin' motor proteins that (un)bind to filaments and exert active contractile…
When a fluid surface adheres to a substrate, the location of the contact line adjusts in order to minimize the overall energy. This adhesion balance implies boundary conditions which depend on the characteristic surface deformation…
We propose a model for the formation of chromatin loops based on the diffusive sliding of a DNA-bound factor which can dimerise to form a molecular slip-link. Our slip-links mimic the behaviour of cohesin-like molecules, which, along with…
It was recently discovered that friction between surfaces bearing phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipid bilayers can be increased by two orders of magnitude or more via an externally-applied electric field, and that this increase is fully…
Cells attach to their environment by means of focal adhesions, which are molecular complexes that exhibit the remarkable ability to adapt to mechanical load by changing their size. Drawing from the biomolecular mechanisms underlying this…
Filopodia are actin-rich structures, present on the surface of practically every known eukaryotic cell. These structures play a pivotal role in specific cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions by allowing cells to explore their environment,…
Grafting linkers with open ends of complementary single-stranded DNA makes a flexible tool to tune interactions between colloids,which facilitates the design of complex self-assembly structures. Recently, it has been proposed to coat…
In fibrous paper materials, an exposure to a variation in moisture content causes changes in the geometrical and mechanical properties. Such changes are strongly affected by the inter-fibre bonds, which are responsible for the transfer of…
The importance of surface tension effects is being recognized in the context of soft composite solids, where it is found to significantly affect the mechanical properties, such as the elastic response to an external stress. It has recently…