Related papers: Oscillations in molecular motor assemblies
Active phenomena which involve force generation and motion play a key role in a number of phenomena in living cells such as cell motility, muscle contraction and the active transport of material and organelles. Here we discuss mechanical…
We analyze a simple stochastic model to describe motor molecules which cooperate in large groups and present a physical mechanism which can lead to oscillatory motion if the motors are elastically coupled to their environment. Beyond a…
We review the properties of biological motor proteins which move along linear filaments that are polar and periodic. The physics of the operation of such motors can be described by simple stochastic models which are coupled to a chemical…
Oscillations represent a ubiquitous phenomenon in biological systems. The conventional models of biological periodic oscillations are usually proposed as interconnecting transcriptional feedback loops. Some specific proteins function as…
The self-assembly of molecules at surfaces can be caused by a range of physical mechanisms. Assembly can be driven by intermolecular forces, or molecule-surface forces, or both; it can result in structures that are in equilibrium or that…
Single and collective cellular oscillations involving the actomyosin cytoskeleton have been observed in numerous biological systems. We show here that a generic model of a contractile material, which is turning over and contracts against an…
Living organisms are molecular systems with self-sustained dynamics via energy conversion through molecular cooperation, resulting in highly complex macroscopic behaviors. Construction of such autonomous macroscopic dynamics at a molecular…
We consider a system of aggregated clusters of particles, subjected to coagulation and fragmentation processes with mass dependent rates. Each monomer particle can aggregate with larger clusters, and each cluster can fragment into…
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…
Models of active nematics in biological systems normally require complexity arising from the hydrodynamics involved at the microscopic level as well as the viscoelastic nature of the system. Here we show that a minimal, space-independent,…
The stationary states of systems with many molecular motors are studied theoretically for uniaxial and centered (aster-like) arrangements of cytoskeletal filaments using Monte Carlo simulations and a two-state model. Mutual exclusion of…
Non-equilibrium processes which convert chemical energy into mechanical motion enable the motility of organisms. Bundles of inextensible filaments driven by energy transduction of molecular motors form essential components of micron-scale…
Collective oscillation of cells in a population has been reported under diverse biological contexts and with vastly different molecular constructs. Could there be common principles similar to those that govern spontaneous oscillation in…
In this paper we use a continuous model to describe the development of a single cell lineage following the committal of stem cells. Three separate controls are implemented in the model, namely the proliferative control of stem cells, the…
It was discovered recently that frictional granular materials can exhibit an important mechanism for instabilities, i.e the appearance of pairs of complex eigenvalues in their stability matrix. The consequence is an oscillatory exponential…
Mechanical oscillations are important for many cellular processes, e.g. the beating of cilia and flagella or the sensation of sound by hair cells. These dynamic states originate from spontaneous oscillations of molecular motors. A…
Ciliary oscillations driven by molecular motors cause fluid motion at micron scale. Stable oscillations require a substantial source of dissipation to balance the energy input of motors. Conventionally, it stems from external fluid. We…
Self-oscillations are the result of an efficient mechanism generating periodic motion from a constant power source. In quantum devices, these oscillations may arise due to the interaction between single electron dynamics and mechanical…
Active matter systems evade the constraints of thermal equilibrium, leading to the emergence of intriguing collective behavior. A paradigmatic example is given by motor-filament mixtures, where the motion of motor proteins drives alignment…
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…