The dynamics of particles interacting by key-lock binding of attached
biomolecules are studied theoretically. Experimental realizations of such
systems include colloids grafted with complementary single-stranded DNA
(ssDNA), and particles grafted with antibodies to cell-membrane proteins.
Depending on the coverage of the functional groups, we predict two distinct
regimes. In the low coverage localized regime, there is an exponential
distribution of departure times. As the coverage is increased the system enters
a diffusive regime resulting from the interplay of particle desorption and
diffusion. This interplay leads to much longer bound state lifetimes, a
phenomenon qualitatively similar to aging in glassy systems. The diffusion
behavior is analogous to dispersive transport in disordered semiconductors:
depending on the interaction parameters it may range from a finite
renormalization of the diffusion coefficient to anomalous, subdiffusive
behavior. We make connections to recent experiments and discuss the
implications for future studies.Comment: v2: substantially revised version, new treatment of localized regime,
19 pages, 10 figure