Long-lived anomalous thermal diffusion induced by elastic cell membranes on nearby particles

Daddi-Moussa-Ider, Abdallah; Guckenberger, Achim and Gekle, Stephan (2016). Long-lived anomalous thermal diffusion induced by elastic cell membranes on nearby particles. Physical Review E, 93, article no. 012612.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.93.012612

Abstract

The physical approach of a small particle (virus, medical drug) to the cell membrane represents the crucial first step before active internalization and is governed by thermal diffusion. Using a fully analytical theory we show that the stretching and bending of the elastic membrane by the approaching particle induces a memory in the system, which leads to anomalous diffusion, even though the particle is immersed in a purely Newtonian liquid. For typical cell membranes the transient subdiffusive regime extends beyond 10 ms and can enhance residence times and possibly binding rates up to 50%. Our analytical predictions are validated by numerical simulations.

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