Related papers: Shape Changes of Self-Assembled Actin Bilayer Comp…
Diffusion in cell membranes is not just simple two-dimensional Brownian motion, but typically depends on the timescale of the observation. The physical origins of this anomalous sub-diffusion are unresolved, and model systems capable of…
The mammalian cell membrane is embedded with biomolecular condensates of protein and lipid clusters, which interact with an underlying viscoelastic cytoskeleton network to organize the cell surface and mechanically interact with the…
In this study, we present a comprehensive exploration of formation of different phases in lipid molecules using a coarse-grained implicit solvent model, where each lipid molecule is represented as a rigid, three-bead rod-like structure. Our…
We present a novel Monte Carlo simulation of the phase separation dynamics of a model fluid membrane. Such a phase segregation induces shape changes of the membrane and results in local `budding' under favourable conditions. We present a…
It has been observed experimentally that the actin gel grown from spherical beads coated with polymerization enzymes spontaneously breaks the symmetry of its spherical shape, and yields a ``comet'' pushing the bead forward. We propose a…
Actin is one of the most studied cytoskeleton proteins showing a very rich span of structures. It can self-assemble actively into dynamical structures that govern the mechanical properties of the cell, its motility and its division.…
Self-consistent field theory is used to determine structural and energetic properties of metastable intermediates and unstable transition states involved in the standard stalk mechanism of bilayer membrane fusion. A microscopic model of…
Dynamical clustering represents a characteristic feature of active matter consisting of self-propelled agents that convert energy from the environment into mechanical motion. At the micron scale, typical of overdamped dynamics, particles…
The structure of membrane-active peptides and their interaction with lipid bilayers can be studied in oriented lipid membranes deposited on solid substrates. Such systems are desirable for a number of surface-sensitive techniques. Here we…
We present a study on filamentous actin solutions containing heavy meromyosin subfragments of myosin II motor molecules. We focus on the viscoelastic phase behavior and internal dynamics of such networks during ATP depletion. Upon…
As the electronic charge distribution in a wide quantum well is tuned from a single-layer through an interacting bilayer configuration to weakly-coupled parallel layers, we observe an insulating phase concurrently manifesting a dramatic…
Biological cells are able to generate intricate structures and respond to external stimuli, sculpting their membrane from within. Simplified biomimetic systems can aid in understanding the principles which govern these shape changes and…
We investigate in detail the self-assembled nucleation and growth of GaN nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy on crystalline TiN films. We demonstrate that this type of substrate allows the growth of long and thin GaN nanowires that do not…
Biological systems exploit self-assembly to create complex structures whose arrangements are finely controlled from molecular to mesoscopic level. Herein we report an example of using fully synthetic systems that mimic two levels of…
We probed the bending of actin subject to external forcing and viscous drag. Single actin filaments were moved perpendicular to their long axis in an oscillatory way by means of an optically tweezed latex bead attached to one end of the…
The physics of membranes, a classic subject, acquires new momentum from two-dimensional (2D) materials multilayers. This work reports the surprising results emerged during a theoretical study of equilibrium geometry of bilayers as…
Membrane shape fluctuations induce attractive interactions between rigid inclusions. Previous analytical studies showed that the fluctuation-induced pair interactions are rather small compared to thermal energies, but also that multi-body…
Polymerization dynamics of single actin filaments is investigated theoretically using a stochastic model that takes into account the hydrolysis of ATP-actin subunits, the geometry of actin filament tips, the lateral interactions between the…
The self-assembly of submerged cold-plasma-treated polyethylene beads is reported. The plasma-treated immersed millimetrically-sized polyethylene beads formed well-ordered 2D quasi-crystalline structures. The submerged floating of light…
Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of as few as three lipid species can phase separate into small-scale lipid domains with stripes and dots patterns. These patterns have been experimentally characterized in terms of how their size…