Related papers: Hydrodynamic mechanism for stable spindle position…
The mechanosensitivity of cells, which determines how they are able to respond to mechanical signals received from their environment, is crucial for the functioning of all biological systems. In experiments, cells placed on cyclically…
Active fluid droplets are a class of soft materials exhibiting autonomous motion sustained by an energy supply. Such systems have been shown to capture motility regimes typical of biological cells and are ideal candidates as building-block…
Tissue homeostasis, the biological process of maintaining a steady state in tissue via control of cell proliferation, death, and metabolic function, is essential for the development, growth, maintenance, and proper function of living…
Motility is a fundamental survival strategy of bacteria to navigate porous environments. Swimming cells thrive in quiescent wetlands and sediments at the bottom of the marine water column, where they mediate many essential biogeochemical…
Motivated by the experimental ability to produce monodisperse particles in microfluidic devices, we study theoretically the hydrodynamic stability of driven and active crystals. We first recall the theoretical tools allowing to quantify the…
The near-bottom mixing that allows abyssal waters to upwell tilts isopycnals and spins up flow over the flanks of mid-ocean ridges. Meso- and large-scale currents along sloping topography are subjected to a delicate balance of Ekman arrest…
Cellular migration is crucial for biological processes including embryonic development, immune response, and wound healing. The myosin-clutch model is a framework that describes how cells control migration through the interactions between…
Left-right symmetry breaking is critical to vertebrate embryonic development; in many species this process begins with cilia-driven flow in a structure termed the `node'. Primary `whirling' cilia, tilted towards the posterior, transport…
We study the fully nonlinear, nonlocal dynamics of two-dimensional multicomponent vesicles in a shear flow with matched viscosity of the inner and outer fluids. Using a nonstiff, pseudo-spectral boundary integral method, we investigate…
Microphase separation of membrane components is thought to play an important role in many physiological processes, from cell signaling to endocytosis and cellular trafficking. Here, we study how variations in the membrane composition can be…
Tissue cells are in a state of permanent mechanical tension that is maintained mainly by myosin II minifilaments, which are bipolar assemblies of tens of myosin II molecular motors contracting actin networks and bundles. Here we introduce a…
Recent research has shown that motile cells can adapt their mode of propulsion to the mechanical properties of the environment in which they find themselves--crawling in some environments while swimming in others. The latter can involve…
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…
We investigate the stabilization mechanisms due to viscous forces in the invasion front during drainage displacement in two-dimensional porous media using a network simulator. We find that in horizontal displacement the capillary pressure…
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…
When considering flows in biological membranes, they are usually treated as flat, though more often than not, they are curved surfaces, even extremely curved, as in the case of the endoplasmic reticulum. Here, we study the topological…
The oceanic mantle lithosphere has considerable potential to store chemically bound water, thereby being an important factor for the deep water cycle. However, the actual extent of hydrous alteration in such mantle rocks is debated.…
Recent experiments have shown that the nematode {\it T. aceti} can assemble into collectively undulating groups at the edge of fluid drops. This coordinated state consists of metachronal waves and drives fluid circulation inside the drop.…
In biological tissues, it is now well-understood that mechanical cues are a powerful mechanism for pattern regulation. While much work has focused on interactions between cells and external substrates, recent experiments suggest that cell…
Sensing the flow of water or air disturbance is critical for the survival of many animals: flow information helps them localize food, mates, and prey and to escape predators. Across species, many flow sensors take the form of long, flexible…