An active poroelastic model for mechanochemical patterns in protoplasmic droplets of Physarum polycephalum.

ABSTRACT: Motivated by recent experimental studies, we derive and analyze a two-dimensional model for the contraction patterns observed in protoplasmic droplets of Physarum polycephalum. The model couples a description of an active poroelastic two-phase medium with equations describing the spatiotemporal dynamics of the intracellular free calcium concentration. The poroelastic medium is assumed to consist of an active viscoelastic solid representing the cytoskeleton and a viscous fluid describing the cytosol. The equations for the poroelastic medium are obtained from continuum force balance and include the relevant mechanical fields and an incompressibility condition for the two-phase medium. The reaction-diffusion equations for the calcium dynamics in the protoplasm of Physarum are extended by adve

SUBMITTER: Radszuweit M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4057197 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature