title: Lifetime of ligand-receptor clusters under external force.
abstract: We present a theory for the lifetime T(N,f) of a ligand-receptor cluster with N bonds under constant external force F=fN , where f is force per bond. We show that there exists a critical force per bond f(c) such that at large N when f>f(c) the lifetime T(N,f) is independent of cluster size N ; when f>f(c) the lifetime scales as ln[T(N,f)] approximately N due to a free energy barrier with height approximately N along the dissociation path; when f=f(c), the lifetime scales as T(N,f) approximately N(1/3) due to strong fluctuation of a number of closed bonds. Our study shows that adhesion clusters with more bonds are more stable at small f but respond to external force as fast as smaller adhesion clusters at large f .
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Graduate Institute of Biophysics, and Center for Complex Systems, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Chao
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Hsuan-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003198:Computer Simulation; D007700:Kinetics; D008024:Ligands; D019563:Mechanics; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011485:Protein Binding; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands