Forced transport of deformable containers through narrow constrictions

We study, numerically and analytically, the forced transport of deformable containers through a narrow constriction. Our central aim is to quantify the competition between the constriction geometry and the active forcing, regulating whether and at which speed a container may pass through the constriction and under what conditions it gets stuck. We focus, in particular, on the interrelation between the force that propels the container and the radius of the channel, as these are the external variables that may be directly controlled in both artificial and physiological settings. We present Lattice-Boltzmann simulations that elucidate in detail the various phases of translocation, and present simplified analytical models that treat two limiting types of these membrane containers: deformational energy dominated by the bending or stretching contribution. In either case we find excellent agreement with the full simulations, and our results reveal that not only the radius but also the length of the constriction determines whether or not the container will pass.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Active elastohydrodynamics of vesicles in narrow, blind constrictions

Fluid-resistance limited transport of vesicles through narrow constrictions is a recurring theme in many biological and engineering applications. Inspired by the motor-driven movement of soft membrane-bound vesicles into closed neuronal dendritic spines, here we study this problem using a combination of passive three-dimensional simulations and a simplified semi-analytical theory for active transport of vesicles that are forced through such constrictions by molecular motors. We show that the motion of these objects is characterized by two dimensionless quantities related to the geometry and the strength of forcing relative to the vesicle elasticity. We use numerical simulations to characterize the transit time for a vesicle forced by fluid pressure through a constriction in a channel, and find that relative to an open channel, transport into a blind end leads to the formation of an effective lubrication layer that strongly impedes motion. When the fluid pressure forcing is complemented by forces due to molecular motors that are responsible for vesicle trafficking into dendritic spines, we find that the competition between motor forcing and fluid drag results in multistable dynamics reminiscent of the real system. Our study highlights the role of non-local hydrodynamic effects in determining the kinetics of vesicular transport in constricted geometries

On the statistical significance of the conductance quantization

Recent experiments on atomic-scale metallic contacts have shown that the quantization of the conductance appears clearly only after the average of the experimental results. Motivated by these results we have analyzed a simplified model system in which a narrow neck is randomly coupled to wide ideal leads, both in absence and presence of time reversal invariance. Based on Random Matrix Theory we study analytically the probability distribution for the conductance of such system. As the width of the leads increases the distribution for the conductance becomes sharply peaked close to an integer multiple of the quantum of conductance. Our results suggest a possible statistical origin of conductance quantization in atomic-scale metallic contacts.Comment: 4 pages, Tex and 3 figures. To be published in PR

Quantum Conductance in Semimetallic Bismuth Nanocontacts

Electronic transport properties of bismuth nanocontacts are analyzed by means of a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The subquantum steps observed in the conductance versus elongation curves give evidence of atomic rearrangements in the contact. The underlying quantum nature of the conductance reveals itself through peaks in the conductance histograms. The shape of the conductance curves at 77 K is well described by a simple gliding mechanism for the contact evolution during elongation. The strikingly different behaviour at 4 K suggests a charge carrier transition from light to heavy ones as the contact cross section becomes sufficiently small.Comment: 5 pages including 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

ESCRT-III mediated cell division in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius - a reconstitution perspective

In the framework of synthetic biology, it has become an intriguing question what would be the minimal representation of cell division machinery. Thus, it seems appropriate to compare how cell division is realized in different microorganisms. Inparticular, the cell division system of Crenarchaeota lacks certain proteins found in most bacteria and Euryarchaeota, such as FtsZ, MreB or the Min system. The Sulfolobaceae family encodes functional homologs of the eukaryotic proteins vacuolar protein sorting 4(Vps4) and endosomal sorting complex required for transport-III (ESCRT-III). ESCRT-III is essential for several eukaryotic pathways, e.g., budding of intraluminal vesicles, or cytokinesis, whereas Vps4 dissociates the ESCRT-III complex from the membrane. Cell Division A(CdvA) is required for the recruitment of crenarchaeal ESCRT-III proteins to the membrane at mid-cell. The proteins polymerize and form a smaller structure during constriction. Thus, ESCRT-III mediated cell division in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius shows functional analogies to the Z ring observed in prokaryotes like Escherichia coli, which has recently begun to be reconstituted in vitro. In this short perspective, we discuss the possibility of building such an in vitro cell division system on basis of archaeal ESCRT-III

Stabilizing single atom contacts by molecular bridge formation

Gold-molecule-gold junctions can be formed by carefully breaking a gold wire in a solution containing dithiolated molecules. Surprisingly, there is little understanding on the mechanical details of the bridge formation process and specifically on the role that the dithiol molecules play themselves. We propose that alkanedithiol molecules have already formed bridges between the gold electrodes before the atomic gold-gold junction is broken. This leads to stabilization of the single atomic gold junction, as observed experimentally. Our data can be understood within a simple spring model.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl