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This paper deals with the recent phenomenological model of the motion of nanoscopic objects (colloidal particles, proteins, nanoparticles, molecules) in complex liquids. We analysed motion in polymer, micellar, colloidal and protein solutions and the cytoplasm of living cells using the length-scale dependent viscosity model. Viscosity monotonically approaches macroscopic viscosity as the size of the object increases and thus gives a single, coherent picture of motion at the nano and macro scale. The model includes interparticle interactions (solvent-solute), temperature and the internal structure of a complex liquid. The depletion layer ubiquitously occurring in complex liquids is also incorporated into the model. We also discuss the biological aspects of crowding in terms of the length-scale dependent viscosity model., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Understanding a biological module involves recognition of its structure and the dynamics of its principal components. In this report we present an analysis of the dynamics of the repression module within the regulation of the trp operon in Escherichia coli. We combine biochemical data for reaction rate constants for the trp repressor binding to trp operator and in vivo data of a number of tryptophan repressors (TrpRs) that bind to the operator. The model of repression presented in this report greatly differs from previous mathematical models. One, two or three TrpRs can bind to the operator and repress the transcription. Moreover, reaction rates for detachment of TrpRs from the operator strongly depend on tryptophan (Trp) concentration, since Trp can also bind to the repressor-operator complex and stabilize it. From the mathematical modeling and analysis of reaction rates and equilibrium constants emerges a high-quality, accurate and effective module of trp repression. This genetic switch responds accurately to fast consumption of Trp from the interior of a cell. It switches with minimal dispersion when the concentration of Trp drops below a thousand molecules per cell.