Tunable dynamics of microtubule based active isotropic gels

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of an active gel of bundled microtubules that is driven by clusters of kinesin molecular motors. Upon the addition of ATP, the coordinated action of thousands of molecular motors drives the gel to a highly dynamical turbulent-like state that persists for hours and is only limited by the stability of constituent proteins and the availability of the chemical fuel. We characterize how enhanced transport and emergent macroscopic flows of active gels depend on relevant molecular parameters, including ATP, kinesin motor, and depletant concentrations, microtubule volume fraction, as well as the stoichiometry of the constituent motor clusters. Our results show that the dynamical and structural properties of microtubule based active gels are highly tunable. They also indicate existence of an optimal concentration of molecular motors that maximize far-from-equilibrium activity of active isotropic MT gels.

arXiv comment19 pages, 9 figures

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Cited by in corpus (31)

• Active Turbulence
• Transition from turbulent to coherent flows in confined three-dimensional active fluids
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• Taming active turbulence with patterned soft interfaces
• Universal scaling of active nematic turbulence
• Correlation lengths in hydrodynamic models of active nematics
• Insensitivity of active nematic dynamics to topological constraints
• Statistical Properties of Autonomous Flows in 2D Active Nematics
• Probing the shear viscosity of an active nematic
• Confinement controlled bend instability of three-dimensional active fluids
• Tunable corrugated patterns in an active gel sheet
• Extensile to contractile transition in active microtubule-actin composites generates layered asters with programmable lifetimes
• Multiscale modeling and simulation of microtubule/motor protein assemblies
• Time reversal symmetry breaking in two-dimensional non-equilibrium viscous fluids
• Anomalous diffusion for active Brownian particles cross-linked to a networked polymer: Langevin dynamics simulation and theory
• Multiscale Microtubule Dynamics in Active Nematics
• Shear-induced gelation of self-yielding active networks
• Statistical Mechanics of Transport Processes in Active Fluids II: Equations of Hydrodynamics for Active Brownian Particles
• Self-mixing in microtubule-kinesin active fluid from nonuniform to uniform distribution of activity
• Effects of confinement on the dynamics and correlation scales in active fluids
• Active liquid crystals powered by force-sensing DNA-motor clusters
• Dispersion of activity at an active-passive nematic interface
• Scaling regimes of active turbulence with external dissipation
• Kinetic theory of pattern formation in mixtures of microtubules and molecular motors
• Weakly nonlinear analysis of pattern formation in active suspensions
• Nonlinear spontaneous flow instability in active nematics
• Flow patterns and defect dynamics of active nematics under an electric field
• Fractal generation in a two-dimensional active-nematic fluid
• Active fluids form system-spanning filamentary networks
• Dynamical arrest in active nematic turbulence
• Filamentous Active Matter: Band Formation, Bending, Buckling, and Defects