1. Topotaxis of active Brownian particles
- Author
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Joeri A. J. Wondergem, Koen Schakenraad, Niladri Sarkar, Linda Ravazzano, Roeland M. H. Merks, and Luca Giomi
- Subjects
Physics ,Toy model ,Scale (ratio) ,Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter ,01 natural sciences ,Spatial modulation ,Quantitative Biology::Cell Behavior ,010305 fluids & plasmas ,Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) ,0103 physical sciences ,Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) ,Physics - Biological Physics ,010306 general physics ,Persistence (discontinuity) ,Biological system ,Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics ,Brownian motion - Abstract
Recent experimental studies have demonstrated that cellular motion can be directed by topographical gradients, such as those resulting from spatial variations in the features of a micropatterned substrate. This phenomenon, known as topotaxis, is especially prominent among cells persistently crawling within a spatially varying distribution of cell-sized obstacles. In this article we introduce a toy model of topotaxis based on active Brownian particles constrained to move in a lattice of obstacles, with space-dependent lattice spacing. Using numerical simulations and analytical arguments, we demonstrate that topographical gradients introduce a spatial modulation of the particles' persistence, leading to directed motion toward regions of higher persistence. Our results demonstrate that persistent motion alone is sufficient to drive topotaxis and could serve as a starting point for more detailed studies on self-propelled particles and cells., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures
- Published
- 2019