• Open Access

Generic Transport Mechanisms for Molecular Traffic in Cellular Protrusions

Isabella R. Graf and Erwin Frey
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 128101 – Published 21 March 2017
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

Transport of molecular motors along protein filaments in a half-closed geometry is a common feature of biologically relevant processes in cellular protrusions. Using a lattice-gas model we study how the interplay between active and diffusive transport and mass conservation leads to localized domain walls and tip localization of the motors. We identify a mechanism for task sharing between the active motors (maintaining a gradient) and the diffusive motion (transport to the tip), which ensures that energy consumption is low and motor exchange mostly happens at the tip. These features are attributed to strong nearest-neighbor correlations that lead to a strong reduction of active currents, which we calculate analytically using an exact moment identity, and might prove useful for the understanding of correlations and active transport also in more elaborate systems.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 11 August 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.128101

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living SystemsStatistical Physics & Thermodynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Isabella R. Graf and Erwin Frey*

  • Arnold-Sommerfeld-Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, D–80333 Munich, Germany

  • *To whom all correspondence should be addressed. frey@lmu.de.

Article Text

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material

Click to Expand

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 118, Iss. 12 — 24 March 2017

Reuse & Permissions
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

×

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×