Related papers: Electronic Energy Migration in Microtubules
Microtubules (MTs) are filamentous protein polymers roughly 25 nm in diameter. Ubiquitous in eukaryotes, MTs are well known for their structural role but also act as actuators, sensors, and, in association with other proteins, checkpoint…
A detailed understanding of energy transduction is crucial for achieving precise control of energy flow in complex, integrated systems. In this context, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are intriguing model systems due to their rich,…
During the first steps of photosynthesis, the energy of impinging solar photons is transformed into electronic excitation energy of the light-harvesting biomolecular complexes. The subsequent energy transfer to the reaction center is…
We examine computational techniques and methodologies currently in use to explore electronic excitation energy transfer in the context of light-harvesting complexes in photosynthetic antenna systems, and comment on some new insights into…
Fluctuations in the energy gap and coupling constants in and between chromophores can play important role in the absorption and energy transfer across a collection of two level systems. In a noisy environment, fluctuations can control…
Ultrafast dynamics in three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) opens new routes for increasing the speed of information transport up to frequencies thousand times faster than in modern electronics. However, up to date, disentangling…
We investigate the microtubule polymerization dynamics with catastrophe and rescue events for three different confinement scenarios, which mimic typical cellular environments: (i) The microtubule is confined by rigid and fixed walls, (ii)…
We analyze a theoretical model for energy and electron transfer in an artificial photosynthetic system. The photosystem consists of a molecular triad (i.e., with a donor, a photosensitive unit, and an acceptor) coupled to four accessory…
Living systems are capable of locomotion, reconfiguration, and replication. To perform these tasks, cells spatiotemporally coordinate the interactions of force-generating, "active" molecules that create and manipulate non-equilibrium…
Under physiological conditions, ballistic long-range transfer of electronic excitations in molecular aggregates is generally expected to be suppressed by noise and dissipative processes. Hence, quantum phenomena are not considered to be…
The initial energy transfer in photosynthesis occurs between the light-harvesting pigments and on ultrafast timescales. We analyze the carotenoid to bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 Marichromatium purpuratum as well as in an…
In many intracellular processes, the length distribution of microtubules is controlled by depolymerizing motor proteins. Experiments have shown that, following non-specific binding to the surface of a microtubule, depolymerizers are…
In this work we include the elastic scattering of longitudinal electromagnetic waves in transport theory using a medium filled with point-like, electric dipoles. The interference between longitudinal and transverse waves creates two new…
We focus on potential mechanisms for `energy-loss-free' transport along the cell microtubules, which could be considered as realizations of Fr\"ohlich's ideas on the role of solitons for superconductivity and/or biological matter. In…
Two distinct approaches, the Frenkel-Dirac time-dependent variation and the Haken-Strobl model, are adopted to study energy transfer dynamics in single-ring and double-ring light-harvesting systems in purple bacteria. It is found that…
This paper describes an investigation into part of the mechanical mechanisms underlying the formation of mitotic spindle, the cellular machinery responsible for chromosomal separation during cell division. In normal eukaryotic cells,…
Microtubules have been in biophysical focus for several decades. Yet the confusing and mutually contradicting results regarding their elasticity and fluctuations have shed some doubts on their present understanding. In this paper we expose…
Mobility of taxol inside microtubules was investigated using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) on flow-aligned bundles. Bundles were made of microtubules with either GMPCPP or GTP at the exchangeable site on the tubulin…
We report detailed theoretical investigations of the micro-mechanics and bulk elastic properties of composites consisting of randomly distributed stiff fibers embedded in an elastic matrix in two and three dimensions. Recent experiments…
Intracellular dynamics in living tissue are dominated by active transport driven by bioenergetic processes far from thermal equilibrium. Intracellular constituents typically execute persistent walks. In the limit of long mean-free paths,…