Transport of molecules via polymerization in chemical gradients

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ravichandir, Shashank, Valecha, Bhavesh, Muzzeddu, Pietro Luigi, Sommer, Jens-Uwe, Sharma, Abhinav
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866917390213709824
author Ravichandir, Shashank
Valecha, Bhavesh
Muzzeddu, Pietro Luigi
Sommer, Jens-Uwe
Sharma, Abhinav
author_facet Ravichandir, Shashank
Valecha, Bhavesh
Muzzeddu, Pietro Luigi
Sommer, Jens-Uwe
Sharma, Abhinav
contents The transport of molecules for chemical reactions is critically important in various cellular biological processes. Despite thermal diffusion being prevalent in many biochemical processes, it is unreliable for any sort of directed transport or preferential accumulation of molecules. In this paper we propose a strategy for directed motion in which the molecules are transported by active carriers via polymerization. This transport is facilitated by chemical/activity gradients which generate an effective drift of the polymers. By marginalizing out the active degrees of freedom of the system, we obtain an effective Fokker-Planck equation for the Rouse modes of such active-passive hybrid polymers. In particular, we solve for the steady state distribution of the center of mass and its mean first passage time to reach an intended destination. We focus on how the arrangement of active units within the polymer affect its steady-state and dynamic behaviour and how they can be optimized to achieve high accumulation or rapid motility.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_12325
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Transport of molecules via polymerization in chemical gradients
Ravichandir, Shashank
Valecha, Bhavesh
Muzzeddu, Pietro Luigi
Sommer, Jens-Uwe
Sharma, Abhinav
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
The transport of molecules for chemical reactions is critically important in various cellular biological processes. Despite thermal diffusion being prevalent in many biochemical processes, it is unreliable for any sort of directed transport or preferential accumulation of molecules. In this paper we propose a strategy for directed motion in which the molecules are transported by active carriers via polymerization. This transport is facilitated by chemical/activity gradients which generate an effective drift of the polymers. By marginalizing out the active degrees of freedom of the system, we obtain an effective Fokker-Planck equation for the Rouse modes of such active-passive hybrid polymers. In particular, we solve for the steady state distribution of the center of mass and its mean first passage time to reach an intended destination. We focus on how the arrangement of active units within the polymer affect its steady-state and dynamic behaviour and how they can be optimized to achieve high accumulation or rapid motility.
title Transport of molecules via polymerization in chemical gradients
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.12325