Related papers: Fluctuations in type IV pilus retraction
A human pathogen, \textit{Neisseria gonorrhoeae} (NG), moves on surfaces by attaching and retracting polymeric structures called Type IV pili. The \textit{tug-of-war} between the pili results in a two-dimensional stochastic motion called…
Many bacteria rely on active cell appendages, such as type IV pili, to move over substrates and interact with neighboring cells. Here, we study the motion of individual cells and bacterial colonies, mediated by the collective interactions…
We examine fluctuation effects due to the low copy number of proteins involved in pattern-forming dynamics within a bacterium. We focus on a stochastic model of the oscillating MinCDE protein system regulating accurate cell division in E.…
Understanding how antibiotics inhibit bacteria can help to reduce antibiotic use and hence avoid antimicrobial resistance - yet few theoretical models exist for bacterial growth inhibition by a clinically relevant antibiotic treatment…
We propose a two-dimensional model for a complete description of the dynamics of molecular motors, including both the processive movement along track filaments and the dissociation from the filaments. The theoretical results on the…
In this study, a two-state mechanochemical model is presented to describe the dynamic instability of microtubules (MTs) in cells. The MTs switches between two states, assembly state and disassembly state. In assembly state, the growth of…
The cooperative action of many molecular motors is essential for dynamic processes such as cell motility and mitosis. This action can be studied by using motility assays in which the motion of cytoskeletal filaments over a surface coated…
We probe non-equilibrium properties of an active bacterial bath through measurements of correlations of passive tracer particles and the response function of a driven, optically trapped tracer. These measurements demonstrate violation of…
We study the transport of bacteria in a porous media modeled by a square channel containing one cylindrical obstacle via molecular dynamics simulations coupled to a lattice Boltzmann fluid. Our bacteria model is a rod-shaped rigid body…
Colonies of bacteria endowed with a pili-based self-propulsion machinery are ideal models for investigating the structure and dynamics of active many-particle systems. We study Neisseria gonorrhoeae colonies with a molecular-dynamics-based…
A class of nucleosome remodeling motors translocate nucleosomes, to which they are attached, toward the middle of DNA chain in the presence of ATP during in vitro experiments. Such a biological activity is likely based on a physical…
Models based on surfactant driven instabilities have been employed to describe pattern formation by swarming bacteria. However, by definition, such models cannot account for the effect of bacterial sensing and decision making. Here we…
A simple model for simulating flows of active suspensions is investigated. The approach is based on dissipative particle dynamics. While the model is potentially applicable to a wide range of self-propelled particle systems, the specific…
From biofilm and colony formation in bacteria to wound healing and embryonic development in multicellular organisms, groups of living cells must often move collectively. While considerable study has probed the biophysical mechanisms of how…
Systems with two species of active molecular motors moving on (cytoskeletal) filaments into opposite directions are studied theoretically using driven lattice gas models. The motors can unbind from and rebind to the filaments. Two motors…
Dynamic properties of molecular motors that fuel their motion by actively interacting with underlying molecular tracks are studied theoretically via discrete-state stochastic ``burnt-bridge'' models. The transport of the particles is viewed…
We formulate and characterize a model to describe the dynamics of semiflexible polymers in the presence of activity due to motor proteins attached irreversibly to a substrate, and a transverse pulling force acting on one end of the…
We show that in experimental atomic force microscopy studies of the lifetime distribution of mechanically stressed folded proteins the effects of externally applied fluctuations can not be distinguished from those of internally present…
Motivated by diverse phenomena in cellular biophysics, including bacterial flagellar motion and DNA transcription and replication, we study the overdamped nonlinear dynamics of a rotationally forced filament with twist and bend elasticity.…
Fueled by the hydrolysis of ATP, the motor protein kinesin literally walks on two legs along the biopolymer microtubule. The number of accidental backsteps that kinesin takes appears to be much larger than what one would expect given the…