Abstract
The physical mechanism behind the spontaneous formation of metachronal waves in microtubule arrays in a low-Reynolds-number fluid has been of interest for the past several years, yet is still not well understood. We present a model implementing the hydrodynamic coupling hypothesis from first principles and use this model to simulate kinesin-driven microtubule arrays and observe their emergent behavior. The results of simulations are compared with known experimental observations by Sanchez et al. [Science 333, 456 (2011)]. By varying parameters, we determine regimes in which the metachronal wave phenomenon emerges and categorize other types of possible microtubule motion outside these regimes.
1 More- Received 21 June 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.103101
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