Theory of nonequilibrium free energy transduction by molecular machines

TL;DR

This paper reviews the theoretical understanding of how biomolecular machines convert free energy in nonequilibrium conditions, highlighting physical limits, design principles, and emerging research areas.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical frameworks and modeling approaches for understanding biomolecular machines as free energy transducers.

Findings

Identifies physical limits on biomolecular machine performance.

Outlines design principles for improving efficiency.

Discusses emerging research directions in the field.

Abstract

Biomolecular machines are protein complexes that convert between different forms of free energy. They are utilized in nature to accomplish many cellular tasks. As isothermal nonequilibrium stochastic objects at low Reynolds number, they face a distinct set of challenges compared to more familiar human-engineered macroscopic machines. Here we review central questions in their performance as free energy transducers, outline theoretical and modeling approaches to understand these questions, identify both physical limits on their operational characteristics and design principles for improving performance, and discuss emerging areas of research.