Vesicles with internal active filaments: self-organized propulsion controls shape, motility, and dynamical response

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Abaurrea-Velasco, Clara, Auth, Thorsten, Gompper, Gerhard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2018
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author Abaurrea-Velasco, Clara
Auth, Thorsten
Gompper, Gerhard
author_facet Abaurrea-Velasco, Clara
Auth, Thorsten
Gompper, Gerhard
contents Self-propulsion and navigation due to the sensing of environmental conditions - such as durotaxis and chemotaxis - are remarkable properties of biological cells that cannot be reproduced by single-component self-propelled particles. We introduce and study "flexocytes", deformable vesicles with enclosed attached self-propelled pushing and pulling filaments that align due to steric and membrane-mediated interactions. Using computer simulations in two dimensions, we show that the membrane deforms under the propulsion forces and forms shapes mimicking motile biological cells, such as keratocytes and neutrophils. When interacting with walls or with interfaces between different substrates, the internal structure of a flexocyte adapts, resulting in a preferred angle of reflection or deflection, respectively. We predict a correlation between motility patterns, shapes, characteristics of the internal forces, and the response to micropatterned substrates and external stimuli. We propose that engineered flexocytes with desired mechanosensitive capabilities enable the construction of soft-matter robots.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1812_09932
institution arXiv
publishDate 2018
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Vesicles with internal active filaments: self-organized propulsion controls shape, motility, and dynamical response
Abaurrea-Velasco, Clara
Auth, Thorsten
Gompper, Gerhard
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Biological Physics
Self-propulsion and navigation due to the sensing of environmental conditions - such as durotaxis and chemotaxis - are remarkable properties of biological cells that cannot be reproduced by single-component self-propelled particles. We introduce and study "flexocytes", deformable vesicles with enclosed attached self-propelled pushing and pulling filaments that align due to steric and membrane-mediated interactions. Using computer simulations in two dimensions, we show that the membrane deforms under the propulsion forces and forms shapes mimicking motile biological cells, such as keratocytes and neutrophils. When interacting with walls or with interfaces between different substrates, the internal structure of a flexocyte adapts, resulting in a preferred angle of reflection or deflection, respectively. We predict a correlation between motility patterns, shapes, characteristics of the internal forces, and the response to micropatterned substrates and external stimuli. We propose that engineered flexocytes with desired mechanosensitive capabilities enable the construction of soft-matter robots.
title Vesicles with internal active filaments: self-organized propulsion controls shape, motility, and dynamical response
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.09932