Journal Article Preprint Epublish
PubMed: 40236840
Renormalized mechanics and stochastic thermodynamics of growing vesicles.
ArXiv
Authors: Jordan L Shivers, Michael Nguyen, Aaron R Dinner, Petia M Vlahovska, Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan
Affiliations
- The James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois USA.
- Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois USA.
- Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA.
Abstract
Uncovering the rules governing the nonequilibrium dynamics of the membranes that define biological cells is of central importance to understanding the physics of living systems. We theoretically and computationally investigate the behavior of flexible quasispherical vesicles that exchange membrane constituents, internal volume, and heat with an external reservoir. The excess chemical potential and osmotic pressure difference imposed by the reservoir act as generalized thermodynamic driving forces that modulate vesicle morphology. We show that the renormalization of membrane mechanical properties by nonequilibrium driving gives rise to a morphological transition between a weakly driven regime, in which growing vesicles remain quasispherical, and a strongly driven regime, in which vesicles accommodate rapid membrane uptake by developing surface wrinkles. Additionally, we propose a minimal vesicle growth-shape law, derived using insights from stochastic thermodynamics, that robustly describes vesicle growth dynamics even in strongly driven, far-from-equilibrium regimes.
MeSH
Mechanics, Cells, Membranes