Absorption by a moving spherical organelle in a heterogeneous cytoplasm: Implications for the role of trafficking in a symplast

How Actuated Particles Effectively Capture Biomolecular Targets

Because of their high surface-to-volume ratio and adaptable surface functionalization, particles are widely used in bioanalytical methods to capture molecular targets. In this article, a comprehensive study is reported of the effectiveness of protein capture by actuated magnetic particles. Association rate constants are quantified in experiments as well as in Brownian dynamics simulations for different particle actuation configurations. The data reveal how the association rate depends on the particle velocity, particle density, and particle assembly characteristics. Interestingly, single particles appear to exhibit target depletion zones near their surface, caused by the high density of capture molecules. The depletion effects are even more limiting in cases with high particle densities. The depletion effects are overcome and protein capture rates are enhanced by applying dynamic particle actuation, resulting in an increase in the association rate constants by up to 2 orders of magnitude.

Cytoplasmic Streaming in the Drosophila Oocyte

Objects are commonly moved within the cell by either passive diffusion or active directed transport. A third possibility is advection, in which objects within the cytoplasm are moved with the flow of the cytoplasm. Bulk movement of the cytoplasm, or streaming, as required for advection, is more common in large cells than in small cells. For example, streaming is observed in elongated plant cells and the oocytes of several species. In the Drosophila oocyte, two stages of streaming are observed: relatively slow streaming during mid-oogenesis and streaming that is approximately ten times faster during late oogenesis. These flows are implicated in two processes: polarity establishment and mixing. In this review, I discuss the underlying mechanism of streaming, how slow and fast streaming are differentiated, and what we know about the physiological roles of the two types of streaming.

A physical perspective on cytoplasmic streaming

Organisms show a remarkable range of sizes, yet the dimensions of a single cell rarely exceed 100 µm. While the physical and biological origins of this constraint remain poorly understood, exceptions to this rule give valuable insights. A well-known counterexample is the aquatic plant Chara, whose cells can exceed 10 cm in length and 1 mm in diameter. Two spiralling bands of molecular motors at the cell periphery drive the cellular fluid up and down at speeds up to 100 µm s(-1), motion that has been hypothesized to mitigate the slowness of metabolite transport on these scales and to aid in homeostasis. This is the most organized instance of a broad class of continuous motions known as 'cytoplasmic streaming', found in a wide range of eukaryotic organisms-algae, plants, amoebae, nematodes and flies-often in unusually large cells. In this overview of the physics of this phenomenon, we examine the interplay between streaming, transport and cell size and discuss the possible role of self-organization phenomena in establishing the observed patterns of streaming.

Long-distance translocation of photosynthates: a primer

The storage of light energy in chemical form through photosynthesis is the key process underlying life as we know it. To utilize photosynthates efficiently as structural materials or as fuel to drive endergonic processes, they have to be transported from where they are produced to where they are needed. In this primer, we provide an overview of basic biophysical concepts underlying our current understanding of the mechanisms of photosynthate long-distance transport, and briefly discuss current developments in the field.

Mass flow and velocity profiles in Neurospora hyphae: partial plug flow dominates intra-hyphal transport

Movement of nuclei, mitochondria and vacuoles through hyphal trunks of Neurospora crassa were vector-mapped using fluorescent markers and green fluorescent protein tags. The vectorial movements of all three were strongly correlated, indicating the central role of mass (bulk) flow in cytoplasm movements in N. crassa. Profiles of velocity versus distance from the hyphal wall did not match the parabolic shape predicted by the ideal Hagen-Poiseuille model of flow at low Reynolds number. Instead, the profiles were flat, consistent with a model of partial plug flow due to the high concentration of organelles in the flowing cytosol. The intra-hyphal pressure gradients were manipulated by localized external osmotic treatments to demonstrate the dependence of velocity (and direction) on pressure gradients within the hyphae. The data support the concept that mass transport, driven by pressure gradients, dominates intra-hyphal transport. The transport occurs by partial plug flow due to the organelles in the cytosol.

Cyclosis-related asymmetry of chloroplast-plasma membrane interactions at the margins of illuminated area in Chara corallina cells

Cytoplasmic streaming in plant cells is an effective means of intracellular transport. The cycling of ions and metabolites between the cytosol and chloroplasts in illuminated cell regions may alter the cytoplasm composition, while directional flow of this modified cytoplasm may affect the plasma membrane and chloroplast activities in cell regions residing downstream of the illumination area. The impact of local illumination is predicted to be asymmetric because the cell regions located downstream and upstream in the cytoplasmic flow with respect to illumination area would be exposed to flowing cytoplasm whose solute composition was influenced by photosynthetic or dark metabolism. This hypothesis was checked by measuring H(+)-transporting activity of plasmalemma and chlorophyll fluorescence of chloroplasts in shaded regions of Chara corallina internodal cells near opposite borders of illuminated region (white light, beam width 2 mm). Both the apoplastic pH and chlorophyll fluorescence, recorded in shade regions at equal distances from illuminated area, exhibited asymmetric light-on responses depending on orientation of cytoplasmic streaming at the light-shade boundary. In the region where the cytoplasm flowed from illuminated area to the measurement area, the alkaline zone (a zone with high plasma membrane conductance) was formed within 4-min illumination, whereas no alkaline zone was observed in the area where cytoplasm approached the boundary from darkened regions. The results emphasize significance of cyclosis in lateral distribution of a functionally active intermediate capable of affecting the membrane transport across the plasmalemma, the functional activity of chloroplasts, and pattern formation in the plant cell.

Cytoplasmic streaming enables the distribution of molecules and vesicles in large plant cells

Recent studies of aquatic and land plants show that similar phenomena determine intracellular transport of organelles and vesicles. This suggests that aspects of cell signaling involved in development and response to external stimuli are conserved across species. The movement of molecular motors along cytoskeletal filaments directly or indirectly entrains the fluid cytosol, driving cyclosis (i.e., cytoplasmic streaming) and affecting gradients of molecular species within the cell, with potentially important metabolic implications as a driving force for cell expansion. Research has shown that myosin XI functions in organelle movement driving cytoplasmic streaming in aquatic and land plants. Despite the conserved cytoskeletal machinery propelling organelle movement among aquatic and land plants, the velocities of cyclosis in plant cells varies according to cell types, developmental stage of the cell, and plant species. Here, we synthesize recent insights into cytoplasmic streaming, molecular gradients, cytoskeletal and membrane dynamics, and expand current cellular models to identify important gaps in current research.

Microfluidics of cytoplasmic streaming and its implications for intracellular transport

Found in many large eukaryotic cells, particularly in plants, cytoplasmic streaming is the circulation of their contents driven by fluid entrainment from particles carried by molecular motors at the cell periphery. In the more than two centuries since its discovery, streaming has frequently been conjectured to aid in transport and mixing of molecular species in the cytoplasm and, by implication, in cellular homeostasis, yet no theoretical analysis has been presented to quantify these processes. We show by a solution to the coupled dynamics of fluid flow and diffusion appropriate to the archetypal "rotational streaming" of algal species such as Chara and Nitella that internal mixing and the transient dynamical response to changing external conditions can indeed be enhanced by streaming, but to an extent that depends strongly on the pitch of the helical flow. The possibility that this may have a developmental consequence is illustrated by the coincidence of the exponential growth phase of Nitella and the point of maximum enhancement of those processes.