Topological braiding and virtual particles on the cell membrane
Name
pnas.2104191118.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.52 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d1f4e210177cf85dab5538d2bf48df15
Author(s)
Liu, Jinghui
Totz, Jan F
Miller, Pearson W
Hastewell, Alasdair D
Chao, Yu-Chen
Dunkel, Jörn
Fakhri, Nikta
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Citation
Liu, Jinghui, Totz, Jan F, Miller, Pearson W, Hastewell, Alasdair D, Chao, Yu-Chen et al. 2021. "Topological braiding and virtual particles on the cell membrane." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (34).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Significance
Topological defects are robust particle-like structures that essentially determine the mechanics and dynamics of physical and biological matter. Examples range from vortices in quantum superfluids to the cores of spiral wave patterns in the brain. In biological systems, such defects play important roles as organizers of biochemical signaling patterns, cellular forces, and even cell death. Combining direct experimental observations with mathematical modeling and chemical perturbations, we investigated the dynamics of spiral wave defects on the surfaces of starfish egg cells. Our quantitative analysis showed that these defects exhibit complex braiding, pair creation, and annihilation dynamics, in agreement with predictions from a generic continuum theory. More broadly, these results suggest interesting parallels between information transport in living and quantum systems.
Topological defects are robust particle-like structures that essentially determine the mechanics and dynamics of physical and biological matter. Examples range from vortices in quantum superfluids to the cores of spiral wave patterns in the brain. In biological systems, such defects play important roles as organizers of biochemical signaling patterns, cellular forces, and even cell death. Combining direct experimental observations with mathematical modeling and chemical perturbations, we investigated the dynamics of spiral wave defects on the surfaces of starfish egg cells. Our quantitative analysis showed that these defects exhibit complex braiding, pair creation, and annihilation dynamics, in agreement with predictions from a generic continuum theory. More broadly, these results suggest interesting parallels between information transport in living and quantum systems.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2104191118
