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Durotaxis of passive nanoparticles on elastic membranes

View ORCID ProfileIvan Palaia, Alexandru Paraschiv, Vincent Debets, Cornelis Storm, View ORCID ProfileAnđela Šarić
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.01.438065
Ivan Palaia
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
2MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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Alexandru Paraschiv
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
2MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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Vincent Debets
3Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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Cornelis Storm
3Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
4Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
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Anđela Šarić
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for the Physics of Living Systems, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
2MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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  • For correspondence: a.saric@ucl.ac.uk
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Abstract

The transport of macromolecules and nanoscopic particles to a target cellular site is a crucial aspect in many physiological processes. This directional motion is generally controlled via active mechanical and chemical processes. Here we show, by means of molecular dynamics simulations and an analytical theory, that completely passive nanoparticles can exhibit directional motion when embedded in non-uniform mechanical environments. Specifically, we study the motion of a passive nanoparticle adhering to a mechanically non-uniform elastic membrane. We observe a non-monotonic affinity of the particle to the membrane as a function of the membrane’s rigidity, which results in the particle transport. This transport can be both up or down the rigidity gradient, depending on the absolute values of the rigidities that the gradient spans across. We conclude that rigidity gradients can be used to direct average motion of passive macromolecules and nanoparticles on deformable membranes, resulting in the preferential accumulation of the macromolecules in regions of certain mechanical properties.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted April 02, 2021.
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Durotaxis of passive nanoparticles on elastic membranes
Ivan Palaia, Alexandru Paraschiv, Vincent Debets, Cornelis Storm, Anđela Šarić
bioRxiv 2021.04.01.438065; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.01.438065
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Durotaxis of passive nanoparticles on elastic membranes
Ivan Palaia, Alexandru Paraschiv, Vincent Debets, Cornelis Storm, Anđela Šarić
bioRxiv 2021.04.01.438065; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.01.438065

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