Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 39: Cytoskeletal Filaments II
BP 39.7: Talk
Friday, March 20, 2020, 11:45–12:00, SCH A251
Buckling instability and active oscillations in a pair of clamped elastic filaments — •Andrej Vilfan1,2, Laura Collesano1, and Ramin Golestanian1 — 1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Germany — 2J. Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
A pair of microtubules that are fixed at the proximal end and connected via dynein motors at the distal end can serve as a minimal synthetic system aimed at re-creating active oscillations resembling those of biological cilia. Here, we study theoretically the static shapes and the active dynamics of two connected filaments, modeled as flexible beams. We first determine the shape of a pair of elastic rods of different lengths with clamped ends (i.e., with coinciding endpoints and tangent vectors). Starting from equal lengths, the system first undergoes a transition similar to Euler buckling, however at a different critical load, and then assumes a planar shape. After a secondary bifurcation, the shape becomes non-planar with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. At an even higher length ratio, it changes to planar again. To study the active system, we replace the passively clamped end with molecular motors exerting a tangential force with a given density in the overlap zone. The dynamical system can have a stable fixed point, with either bent or straight filaments, or limit cycle oscillations reminiscent of ciliary beating.