Collective Phenomena in Intracellular Processes

Erwin Frey[1] (frey@hmi.de)
Andrea Parmeggiani[2]
Thomas Franosch[1]

[1]Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Abteilung Theorie, Glienicker Str. 100, Berlin 14109, Germany Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Physik, Arnimallee 14, Berlin 14195, Germany
[2]Dynamique Moléculaire des Interactions Membranaires, UMR 5539 CNRS/Université de Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

Abstract

Intracellular transport and cytoskeletal organization are the result of an interaction between elastic filaments and force generation by motor proteins. The observed phenomena are still too complex for a complete theoretical description. Studies on simple model systems reveal interesting collective phenomena which can be understood on the basis of driven stochastic processes far from equilibrium.

[ Full-text PDF | Table of Contents ]