Fluctuations in living cells and intracellular traffic

✍ Scribed by Alexander Mikhailov; Benno Hess

• Book ID: 102610508
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 383 KB
• Volume: 176
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.1995.0188

✦ Synopsis

Theoretical estimates reveal the presence of strong thermal hydrodynamic fluctuations in the cytoplasm of living cells. It is suggested here that these intensive fluctuations may be utilized by biological vesicles inside the cells to produce their directed drift to the targets. A possible mechanism of partial rectification of thermal fluctuations is based on the effect of active navigation: i.e. on the controlled response of vesicles to velocity fluctuations.