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We present an experimentally guided, multi-phasic, multi-species ionic gel model to compare and make qualitative predictions on the rheology of mucus of healthy individuals (Wild Type) versus those infected with Cystic Fibrosis. The mixture theory consists of the mucus (polymer phase) and water (solvent phase) as well as several different ions: H+, Na+ and Ca++. The model is linearized to study the hydration of spherically symmetric mucus gels and calibrated against the experimental data of mucus diffusivities. Near equilibrium, the linearized form of the equation describing the radial size of the gel, reduces to the well-known expression used in the kinetic theory of swelling hydrogels. Numerical studies reveal that the Donnan potential is the dominating mechanism driving the mucus swelling/deswelling transition. However, the altered swelling kinetics of the Cystic Fibrosis infected mucus is not merely governed by the hydroelectric composition of the swelling media, but also due to the altered movement of electrolytes as well as due to the defective properties of the mucin polymer network.
Studies of circular DNA confined to nanofluidic channels are relevant both from a fundamental polymer-physics perspective and due to the importance of circular DNA molecules in vivo. We here observe the unfolding of DNA from the circular to linear co
Generation of mechanical oscillation is ubiquitous to wide variety of intracellular processes. We show that catchbonding behaviour of motor proteins provides a generic mechanism of generating spontaneous oscillations in motor-cytoskeletal filament co
How epithelial cells coordinate their polarity to form functional tissues is an open question in cell biology. Here, we characterize a unique type of polarity found in liver tissue, nematic cell polarity, which is different from vectorial cell polari
Within developing embryos, tissues flow and reorganize dramatically on timescales as short as minutes. This includes epithelial tissues, which often narrow and elongate in convergent extension movements due to anisotropies in external forces or in in
RNA/protein interactions play crucial roles in controlling gene expression. They are becoming important targets for pharmaceutical applications. Due to RNA flexibility and to the strength of electrostatic interactions, standard docking methods are in