Transport Facilitated by Rapid Binding to Elastic Tethers

Diffusion in cell biology is important and complicated. Diffusing particles must contend with a complex environment as they make their way through the cell. We analyze a particular type of complexity that arises when diffusing particles reversibly bind to elastically tethered binding partners. Using asymptotic analysis, we derive effective equations for the transport of both single and multiple particles in the presence of such elastic tethers. We show that for the case of linear elasticity and simple binding kinetics, the elastic tethers have a weak hindering effect on particle motion when only one particle is present, while, remarkably, strongly enhancing particle motion when multiple particles are present. We give a physical interpretation of this result that suggests a similar effect may be present in other biological settings.

[1]  J. Keener,et al.  Enhanced Nucleocytoplasmic Transport due to Competition for Elastic Binding Sites. , 2018, Biophysical journal.

[2]  Heather A. Brooks,et al.  Turing mechanism for homeostatic control of synaptic density during C. elegans growth. , 2017, Physical review. E.

[3]  L. Edelstein-Keshet,et al.  Application of Quasi-Steady-State Methods to Nonlinear Models of Intracellular Transport by Molecular Motors , 2017, Bulletin of mathematical biology.

[4]  E. Lemke,et al.  Floppy but not sloppy: Interaction mechanism of FG-nucleoporins and nuclear transport receptors , 2017, Seminars in cell & developmental biology.

[5]  M. Kimura,et al.  Extensive cargo identification reveals distinct biological roles of the 12 importin pathways , 2017, eLife.

[6]  L. Pedersen,et al.  Endocytic Control of Cellular Signaling at the Primary Cilium. , 2016, Trends in biochemical sciences.

[7]  Ava J. Mauro,et al.  Uniform asymptotic approximation of diffusion to a small target: Generalized reaction models. , 2016, Physical review. E.

[8]  A. Sali,et al.  Slide-and-exchange mechanism for rapid and selective transport through the nuclear pore complex , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  E. Lemke.  The Multiple Faces of Disordered Nucleoporins , 2016, Journal of molecular biology.

[10]  K. Verhey,et al.  Molecular connections between nuclear and ciliary import processes , 2013, Cilia.

[11]  Ruth E Baker,et al.  Mathematical models of morphogen gradients and their effects on gene expression , 2012, Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology.

[12]  Charles S. Peskin,et al.  The influence of volume exclusion by chromatin on the time required to find specific DNA binding sites by diffusion , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[13]  P. Bressloff,et al.  Quasi-steady State Reduction of Molecular Motor-Based Models of Directed Intermittent Search , 2010, Bulletin of mathematical biology.

[14]  A. Corbett,et al.  The intracellular mobility of nuclear import receptors and NLS cargoes. , 2009, Biophysical journal.

[15]  U. Aebi,et al.  Nanomechanical Basis of Selective Gating by the Nuclear Pore Complex , 2007, Science.

[16]  U. Aebi,et al.  Flexible phenylalanine-glycine nucleoporins as entropic barriers to nucleocytoplasmic transport. , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  J. Keizer,et al.  Effects of rapid buffers on Ca2+ diffusion and Ca2+ oscillations. , 1994, Biophysical journal.

[18]  G. I. Bell.  Models for the specific adhesion of cells to cells. , 1978, Science.

[19]  S. I. Rubinow,et al.  The facilitated diffusion of oxygen by hemoglobin and myoglobin. , 1977, Biophysical journal.

[20]  Alan E. Lindsay,et al.  First Passage Statistics for the Capture of a Brownian Particle by a Structured Spherical Target with Multiple Surface Traps , 2017, Multiscale Model. Simul..

[21]  D. Görlich,et al.  Transport Selectivity of Nuclear Pores, Phase Separation, and Membraneless Organelles. , 2016, Trends in biochemical sciences.

[22]  K. Verhey,et al.  Gated entry into the ciliary compartment , 2015, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.

[23]  James P. Keener,et al.  Mathematical physiology , 1998 .