Interactions of rod-like particles on responsive elastic sheets

What are the physical laws of the mutual interactions of objects bound to cell membranes, such as various membrane proteins or elongated virus particles? To rationalise this, we here investigate by extensive computer simulations mutual interactions of rod-like particles adsorbed on the surface of re...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2016-01, Vol.12 (38), p.798-7919
Main Authors: Ghosh, Surya K, Cherstvy, Andrey G, Petrov, Eugene P, Metzler, Ralf
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer simulation
Contact
Membranes
Orientation
Rods
Self assembly
Sheets
Viruses
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:What are the physical laws of the mutual interactions of objects bound to cell membranes, such as various membrane proteins or elongated virus particles? To rationalise this, we here investigate by extensive computer simulations mutual interactions of rod-like particles adsorbed on the surface of responsive elastic two-dimensional sheets. Specifically, we quantify sheet deformations as a response to adhesion of such filamentous particles. We demonstrate that tip-to-tip contacts of rods are favoured for relatively soft sheets, while side-by-side contacts are preferred for stiffer elastic substrates. These attractive orientation-dependent substrate-mediated interactions between the rod-like particles on responsive sheets can drive their aggregation and self-assembly. The optimal orientation of the membrane-bound rods is established via responding to the elastic energy profiles created around the particles. We unveil the phase diagramme of attractive-repulsive rod-rod interactions in the plane of their separation and mutual orientation. Applications of our results to other systems featuring membrane-associated particles are also discussed. What are the physical laws of the mutual interactions of objects bound to cell membranes, such as various membrane proteins or elongated virus particles?
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/c6sm01522k