title: Dynamic heterogeneity and non-Gaussian statistics for acetylcholine receptors on live cell membrane.
abstract: The Brownian motion of molecules at thermal equilibrium usually has a finite correlation time and will eventually be randomized after a long delay time, so that their displacement follows the Gaussian statistics. This is true even when the molecules have experienced a complex environment with a finite correlation time. Here, we report that the lateral motion of the acetylcholine receptors on live muscle cell membranes does not follow the Gaussian statistics for normal Brownian diffusion. From a careful analysis of a large volume of the protein trajectories obtained over a wide range of sampling rates and long durations, we find that the normalized histogram of the protein displacements shows an exponential tail, which is robust and universal for cells under different conditions. The experiment indicates that the observed non-Gaussian statistics and dynamic heterogeneity are inherently linked to the slow-active remodelling of the underlying cortical actin network.
authors.affiliation: Nano Science and Technology Program, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Y
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4172-7981
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ackerson
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004058:Diffusion; D007700:Kinetics; D009038:Motion; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic