arXiv · 1909.03949
Diffusion in crowded colloids of particles cyclically changing their shapes
Abstract
A simple model of an active colloid consisting of dumbbell-shaped particles that cyclically change their length without propelling themselves is proposed and analyzed. At nanoscales, it represents an idealization for bacterial cytoplasm or for a biomembrane with active protein inclusions. Our numerical simulations demonstrate that non-equilibrium conformational activity of particles can strongly affect diffusion and structural relaxation: while a passive colloid behaves as a glass, it gets progressively fluidized when the activity is turned on. Qualitatively, this agrees with experimental results on optical tracking of probe particles in bacterial and yeast cells where metabolism-induced fluidization of cytoplasm was observed.
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Yuki Koyano, Hiroyuki Kitahata, Alexander S. Mikhailov. 2019-09-09. Diffusion in crowded colloids of particles cyclically changing their shapes. https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075%2F128%2F40003
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