28 June 2015 to 3 July 2015
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
SAIP2015 Proceeding published on 17 July 2016

Biological filament interacting with molecular motors

1 Jul 2015, 09:40
20m
Oral Presentation Track G - Theoretical and Computational Physics TCP

Speaker

Mr Janusz Meylahn (Stellenbosch University)

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

No

Main supervisor (name and email)<br>and his / her institution

Prof. K. K. Mueller-Nedebock kkmn@sun.ac.za Stellenbosch University

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD, N/A)?

Msc

Abstract content <br> &nbsp; (Max 300 words)<br><a href="http://events.saip.org.za/getFile.py/access?resId=0&materialId=0&confId=34" target="_blank">Formatting &<br>Special chars</a>

There has been a lot of work recently describing active matter in the context of biological systems. One such system is the propulsion of a biological filament by molecular motors. The motion is induced by chemical reactions with the motor proteins as well as noise. A simplified model describing these interactions is a variation of Brownian motion where the motor position along the filament is determined by a Langvin equation. We want to study the response of the filament on being brought into contact with the molecular motors as well as the fluctuations around this response. We have developed a formalism to deal with the time-dependent statistics of the motor attachment and dettachment from the filament using the innovative technique of representing the detached state via a reservoir of motors at a certain temporal point. This allows us to formulate the motions of the attachment of the motors within a single distribution function, that can be treated easily computationally and also in certain analytic approximations. The results are also tested by computer simulations.

Apply to be<br> considered for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

Yes

Please indicate whether<br>this abstract may be<br>published online<br>(Yes / No)

Yes

Primary author

Mr Janusz Meylahn (Stellenbosch University)

Presentation Materials

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