Abstract
Active protein inclusions in biological membranes can represent nano-swimmers and propel themselves in lipid bilayers. A simple model of an active inclusion with three particles (domains) connected by variable elastic links is considered. First, the membrane is modeled as a two-dimensional viscous fluid and propulsion behavior in two dimensions is examined. After that, an example of a microscopic dynamical simulation is presented, where the lipid bilayer structure of the membrane is resolved and the solvent effects are included by multiparticle collision dynamics. Statistical analysis of data reveals ballistic motion of the swimmer, in contrast to the classical diffusion behavior found in the absence of active transitions between the states.
Graphical abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
References
E.M. Purcell, Am. J. Phys. 45, 3 (1977)
A. Shapere, F. Wilzcek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2051 (1987)
D. Tam, A. Hosoi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 068105 (2007)
A. Najafi, R. Golestanian, Phys. Rev. E 69, 062901 (2004)
M. Iima, A.S. Mikhailov, EPL 85, 44001 (2009)
S. Alonso, A.S. Mikhailov, Phys. Rev. E 79, 061906 (2009)
T. Sakaue, R. Kapral, A.S. Mikhailov, Eur. Phys. J. B 75, 381 (2010)
R. Golestanian, A. Ajdari, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 038101 (2010)
R. Golestanian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 018103 (2010)
B. Alberts, Cell 92, 291 (1998)
N. Kodera, D. Yamamoto, R. Ishikawa, T. Ando, Nature 468, 72 (2010)
T. Uchinashi, R. Iino, T. Ando, H. Noji, Science 333, 755 (2011)
H. Flechsig, A.S. Mikhailov, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 20875 (2010)
C. Echeverria, Y. Togashi, A.S. Mikhailov, R. Kapral, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 13, 10527 (2011)
J. Prost, R. Bruinsma, EPL 33, 321 (1996)
S. Sankararaman, G.I. Menon, P.B. Sunil Kumar, Phys. Rev. E 66, 031914 (2002)
H.-Y. Chen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 168101 (2004)
H.-Y. Chen, A.S. Mikhailov, Phys. Rev. E 81, 031901 (2010)
P.G. Saffman, M. Delbruck, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 3111 (1975)
H. Diamant, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 78, 041002 (2009)
G. Marchioro, M. Pulvirenti, Commun. Math. Phys. 84, 483 (1982)
M. Leoni, T.B. Liverpool, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 238102 (2010)
M.-J. Huang, R. Kapral, A.S. Mikhailov, H.-Y. Chen, J. Chem. Phys. 137, 055101 (2012)
B.L. de Groot, H. Grubmüller, Science 294, 2353 (2001)
R. Kapral, Adv. Chem. Phys. 140, 89 (2008)
C.M. Pooley, G.P. Alexander, Y.M. Yeomans, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 228103 (2007)
A. Cressman, Y. Togashi, A.S. Mikhailov, R. Kapral, Phys. Rev. E 77, 050901 (2008)
A.S. Mikhailov, D. Meinköhn, Self-motion in physico-chemical systems far from thermal equilibrium, in Stochastic Dynamics, edited by L. Schimansky-Geier, Th. Pöschel, Springer Lect. Notes Phys., Vol. 484 (Springer, Berlin, 1997) pp. 336-345
J.R. Howse, R.A.L. Jones, A.J. Ryan, T. Gough, R. Vahabakhsh, R. Golestanian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 048102 (2007)
B. Alberts, A. Johnson, J. Lewis, M. Raff, K. Roberts, P. Walter, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th ed. (Garland, New York, 2002)
A. Malevanets, R. Kapral, J. Chem. Phys. 110, 8605 (1999)
G. Gompper, T. Ihle, D.M. Kroll, R.G. Winkler, Adv. Polym. Sci. 221, 1 (2009)
Y. Gambin, R. Lopez-Esparza, M. Reffay, E. Sierecki, N.S. Gov, M. Genest, R.S. Hodges, W. Urbach, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 2098 (2006)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Electronic supplementary material
Supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, MJ., Chen, HY. & Mikhailov, A.S. Nano-swimmers in biological membranes and propulsion hydrodynamics in two dimensions. Eur. Phys. J. E 35, 119 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2012-12119-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2012-12119-5