title: Ligand binding in a spherical region randomly crowded by receptors.
abstract: This paper reports on some results concerning the binding of diffusing ligands in a spherical 3D region randomly filled by free receptors. It is shown that commonly accepted mean-field theory which is successfully used for bulk diffusion-controlled reactions cannot describe the behavior of ligand concentration in the diffusion layer close to the region boundary. To eliminate this drawback of the theory, we introduce a new complementary diffusion equation in the boundary layer with an appropriate matching condition. Using this equation, we find the characteristic ligand penetration length and total time-dependent flux of ligand binding to free receptors randomly distributed in a spherical region.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biophysique Moleculaire CBM-CNRS UPR 4301 du CNRS, Rue Charles Sadron, F-45071 Orleans Cedex 2, France. sergtray@mail.ru
authors.forename: Sergey D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Traytak
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D004058:Diffusion; D008024:Ligands; D008954:Models, Biological; D011485:Protein Binding; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D012996:Solutions
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D012996:Solutions