title: Clustered diffusion of integrins.
abstract: We discuss the diffusion of clusters of integrins (and other similar membrane proteins) on a cell membrane with a cortical cytoskeleton. We argue that protein clusters--in contrast with normal oligomers, which are forced to pass through cytoskeletal barriers all at once--should be treated essentially as many-legged random walkers that can pass through a cytoskeletal barrier by putting one leg at a time through the fence. We present the mathematics that should describe the phenomenon, which result in a two-parameter model of diffusion that should apply to any cluster size. We also perform and discuss numerical simulations of the effect in the erythrocyte model system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lepzelter
authors.forename: Muhammad H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zaman
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D004058:Diffusion; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular
chemical_list: D016023:Integrins