Related papers: Active beating of a reconstituted synthetic minima…
The observed spatio-temporal ciliary beat patterns on multiciliated epithelia are suspected to be the result of self-organizing processes on various levels. Here, we present an abstract epithelium model at the pluricellular level, which…
Locomotion of bacteria by actin polymerization, and in vitro motion of spherical beads coated with a protein catalyzing polymerization, are examples of active motility. Starting from a simple model of forces locally normal to the surface of…
Tiny cilia drive the flow of surrounding fluids through asymmetric jumping, which is one of the main ways for biological organisms to control fluid transport at the micro-scale. Due to its huge application prospects in medical and…
Many biological microswimmers can modulate their swimming gait to achieve directional control of motility, especially when performing steering towards specific directional cues. This can be achieved without the need for obvious…
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…
The spontaneous generation of electrical activity underpins a number of essential physiological processes, and is observed even in tissues where specialized pacemaker cells have not been identified. The emergence of periodic oscillations in…
How thousands of microtubules and molecular motors self-organize into spindles remains poorly understood. By combining static, nanometer-resolution, large-scale electron tomography reconstructions and dynamic, optical-resolution, polarized…
Cell motility in viscous fluids is ubiquitous and affects many biological processes, including reproduction, infection, and the marine life ecosystem. Here we review the biophysical and mechanical principles of locomotion at the small…
Intracellular transport is vital for the proper functioning and survival of a cell. Cargo (proteins, vesicles, organelles, etc.) is transferred from its place of creation to its target locations via molecular motor assisted transport along…
The twisting and writhing of a cell body and associated mechanical stresses is an underappreciated constraint on microbial self-propulsion. Multi-flagellated bacteria can even buckle and writhe under their own activity as they swim through…
Synchronization plays a crucial role in the dynamics of living organisms, from fireflies flashing in unison to pacemaker cells that jointly generate heartbeats. Uncovering the mechanism behind these phenomena requires an understanding of…
Active matter consists of self-propelled elements exhibits fascinating collective motions ranging from biological to artificial systems. Among wide varieties of active matter systems, reconstituted bio-filaments moving on molecular motor…
Cilia and flagella are self-actuated microtubule-based structures that are present on many cell surfaces, ranging from the outer surface of single-cell organisms to the internal epithelial surfaces in larger animals. A fast and robust…
The purpose of this paper is trifold -- to serve as an instructive resource and a reference catalog for biologically plausible modeling with i) conductance-based models, coupled with ii) strength-varying slow synapse models, culminating in…
Associative learning is one of the key mechanisms displayed by living organisms in order to adapt to their changing environments. It was early recognized to be a general trait of complex multicellular organisms but also found in "simpler"…
Nanoscale biosystems are widely used in numerous medical applications. The approaches for structure and function of the nanomachines that are available in the cell (natural nanomachines) are discussed. Molecular simulation studies have been…
The multifarious internal workings of organisms are difficult to reconcile with a single feature defining a state of being alive. Indeed, definitions of life rely on emergent properties (growth, capacity to evolve, agency) only symptomatic…
The initiation of directional cell motion requires symmetry breaking that can happen both with or without external stimuli. During cell crawling, forces generated by the cytoskeleton and their transmission through mechanosensitive adhesions…
Building mathematical models of brains is difficult because of the sheer complexity of the problem. One potential starting point is through basal cognition, which gives abstract representation of a range of organisms without central nervous…
In living cells, cycles of formation and dissolution of liquid droplets can mediate biological functions such as DNA repair. However, the minimal physicochemical prerequisite for such droplet oscillations remains elusive. Here, we present a…