Fluidization and Active Thinning by Molecular Kinetics in Active Gels
arXiv:1612.02936 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.088002
Abstract
We derive the constitutive equations of an active polar gel from a model for the dynamics of elastic molecules that link polar elements. Molecular binding kinetics induces the fluidization of the material, giving rise to Maxwell viscoelasticity and, provided that detailed balance is broken, to the generation of active stresses. We give explicit expressions for the transport coefficients of active gels in terms of molecular properties, including nonlinear contributions on the departure from equilibrium. In particular, when activity favors linker unbinding, we predict a decrease of viscosity with activity - active thinning - of kinetic origin, which could explain some experimental results on the cell cortex. By bridging the molecular and hydrodynamic scales, our results could help understand the interplay between molecular perturbations and the mechanics of cells and tissues.
arXiv comment6 pages, 2 figures
References in corpus (15)
- The Mechanics and Statistics of Active Matter
- Hydrodynamic fluctuations and instabilities in ordered suspensions of self-propelled particles
- Modeling semiflexible polymer networks
- Rheology of Active-Particle Suspensions
- Generic theory of active polar gels: a paradigm for cytoskeletal dynamics
- Physics of adherent cells
- Effective viscosity of microswimmer suspensions
- Generic theory of colloidal transport
- Sheared active fluids: thickening, thinning and vanishing viscosity
- Rheology of Active Filament Solutions
- Symmetries and Elasticity of Nematic Gels
- Mechanical response of active gels
- Instabilities and Oscillations in Isotropic Active Gels
- Active Viscoelastic Matter: from Bacterial Drag Reduction to Turbulent Solids
- Stress reorganisation and response in active solids
Cited by in corpus (8)
- Physical Models of Collective Cell Migration
- Active wetting of epithelial tissues
- Active mechanics reveal molecular-scale force kinetics in living oocytes
- Active Fingering Instability in Tissue Spreading
- Role of Substrate Stiffness in Tissue Spreading: Wetting Transition and Tissue Durotaxis
- Collective durotaxis of cohesive cell clusters on a stiffness gradient
- Small-scale displacement fluctuations of vesicles in fibroblasts
- Hydrodynamic instabilities, waves and turbulence in spreading epithelia