Diffusion-limited reactions in dynamic heterogeneous media.

ABSTRACT: Most biochemical reactions in living cells rely on diffusive search for target molecules or regions in a heterogeneous overcrowded cytoplasmic medium. Rapid rearrangements of the medium constantly change the effective diffusivity felt locally by a diffusing particle and thus impact the distribution of the first-passage time to a reaction event. Here, we investigate the effect of these dynamic spatiotemporal heterogeneities onto diffusion-limited reactions. We describe a general mathematical framework to translate many results for ordinary homogeneous Brownian motion to heterogeneous diffusion. In particular, we derive the probability density of the first-passage time to a reaction event and show how the dynamic disorder broadens the distribution and increases the likelihood of both short a

SUBMITTER: Lanoiselee Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6199324 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature