Traffic of molecular motors through tube-like compartments

TL;DR

This paper models the movement of molecular motors in tube-like structures using lattice models, analyzing phase transitions and density profiles under various boundary conditions, with results applicable to experimental settings.

Contribution

It introduces a lattice model framework for molecular motor traffic in tubes, exploring boundary effects and phase transitions with theoretical and simulation analysis.

Findings

Phase diagrams depend on boundary conditions.

Density profiles are characterized by mean field and Monte Carlo methods.

Theoretical predictions are experimentally accessible.

Abstract

The traffic of molecular motors through open tube-like compartments is studied using lattice models. These models exhibit boundary-induced phase transitions related to those of the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) in one dimension. The location of the transition lines depends on the boundary conditions at the two ends of the tubes. Three types of boundary conditions are studied: (A) Periodic boundary conditions which correspond to a closed torus-like tube. (B) Fixed motor densities at the two tube ends where radial equilibrium holds locally; and (C) Diffusive motor injection at one end and diffusive motor extraction at the other end. In addition to the phase diagrams, we also determine the profiles for the bound and unbound motor densities using mean field approximations and Monte Carlo simulations. Our theoretical predictions are accessible to experiments.