Related papers: Bistability and oscillations in cooperative microt…
A microtubule (MT) is a hollow tube of approximately 25 nm diameter. The two ends of the tube are dissimilar and are designated as `plus' and `minus' ends. Motivated by the collective push and pull exerted by a bundle of MTs during…
We derive a model describing spatio-temporal organization of an array of microtubules interacting via molecular motors. Starting from a stochastic model of inelastic polar rods with a generic anisotropic interaction kernel we obtain a set…
We analyze the collective behavior of hydrodynamically coupled molecular motors. We show that the local fluxes induced by motors displacement can induce the experimentally observed bidirectional motion of cargoes and vesicles. By means of a…
A simple stochastic model which describes microtubule dynamics and explicitly takes into account the relevant biochemical processes is presented. The model incorporates binding and unbinding of monomers and random phosphate release inside…
Large scale motion of cytoplasm called cytoplasmic streaming occurs in some large eukaryotic cells to stir the cell's constituents. In Drosophila oocytes, microtubules have been observed to undergo undulating motion, curving to form…
In the cellular phenomena of cytoplasmic streaming, molecular motors carrying cargo along a network of microtubules entrain the surrounding fluid. The piconewton forces produced by individual motors are sufficient to deform long…
During eukaryotic cell division, a microtubule-based structure called the spindle exerts forces on chromosomes, thereby organizing and segregating them Extensive work demonstrates that the forces acting parallel to the spindle axis,…
Microtubules and motor proteins self organize into biologically important assemblies including the mitotic spindle and the centrosomal microtubule array. Outside of cells, microtubule-motor mixtures can form novel active liquid-crystalline…
Cell-fate transition can be modeled by ordinary differential equations (ODEs) which describe the behavior of several molecules in interaction, and for which each stable equilibrium corresponds to a possible phenotype (or 'biological…
Inside cells, various cargos are transported by teams of molecular motors. Intriguingly, the motors involved generally have opposite pulling directions, and the resulting cargo dynamics is a biased stochastic motion. It is an open question…
The cytoskeleton is essential for the maintenance of cell morphology in eukaryotes. In fission yeast for example, polarized growth sites are organized by actin whereas microtubules (MT) acting upstream control where growth occurs (La…
We extend exploration of potential vorticity instabilities in cold astrophysical disks whose mean states are baroclinic. In particular, we seek to demonstrate the potential existence of traditional baroclinic instabilities of meteorological…
Cilia and flagella are essential building blocks for biological fluid transport and locomotion at the micron scale. They often beat in synchrony and may transition between different synchronization modes in the same cell type. Here, we…
Robust self-organization of subcellular structures is a key principle governing the dynamics and evolution of cellular life. In fission yeast cells undergoing division, the mitotic spindle spontaneously emerges from the interaction of…
We analyze the nonlinear waves that propagate on a microtubule that is tethered at its minus end due to kinesin walking on it, as is seen during the fluid mixing caused by cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila oocytes.The model we use assumes…
Biological systems can rely on collective formation of a metachronal wave in an ensemble of oscillators for locomotion and for fluid transport. We consider one-dimensional chains of phase oscillators with nearest neighbor interactions,…
During the asymmetric division of the Caenorhabditis elegans nematode zygote, the polarity cues distribution and daughter cell fates depend on the correct positioning of the mitotic spindle, which results from both centering and cortical…
How pattern and form are generated in a reproducible manner during embryogenesis remains poorly understood. Intestinal organoid morphogenesis involves a number of mechanochemical regulators, including cell-type specific cytoskeletal forces…
Cellular cargo can be bound to cytoskeletal filaments by one or multiple active or passive molecular motors. Recent experiments have shown that the presence of auxiliary, nondriving motors, results in an enhanced processivity of the cargo,…
The planar front of a growing a crystal is often destroyed by instabilities. In the case of growth from a condensed phase, the most frequent ones are diffusion instabilities, which will be but briefly discussed in simple terms in chapter…