aLENS: towards the cellular-scale simulation of motor-driven cytoskeletal assemblies

by Wen Yan (CCB)

Friday Nov 12, 2021, 3:00 PM → 6:00 PM America/New_York

The cytoskeleton – a collection of polymeric filaments, molecular motors, and crosslinkers – is a foundational example of active matter, and in the cell assembles into organelles that guide basic biological functions. Simulation of cytoskeletal assemblies is an important tool for modeling cellular processes and understanding their surprising material properties. Here we present aLENS, a novel computational framework to surmount the limits of conventional simulation methods. We model molecular motors with crosslinking kinetics that adhere to a thermodynamic energy landscape, and integrate the system dynamics while efficiently and stably enforcing hard-body repulsion between filaments – molecular potentials are entirely avoided in imposing steric constraints. Utilizing parallel computing, we simulate different mixtures of tens to hundreds of thousands of cytoskeletal filaments and crosslinking motors, recapitulating self-emergent phenomena such as bundle formation and buckling, and elucidating how motor type, thermal fluctuations, internal stresses, and confinement determine the evolution of active matter aggregates.

Date: Friday, 11/12

Time: 3-4 pm; reception to follow 4-6 pm on the 162 roof

Location: Hybrid event (162 Fifth Avenue, 2nd floor auditorium + a Zoom option)

Hi there, 

Flatiron Institute is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. 

Topic:  aLENS: towards the cellular-scale simulation of motor-driven cytoskeletal assemblies
Time: Nov 12, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://simonsfoundation.zoom.us/j/96110252748?pwd=VlNjczJJQTd0alRqT2syU05aMVUwQT09
    Passcode: 471397

Or Telephone:
    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): 
        US: +1 646 558 8656  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 312 626 6799  or +1 253 215 8782  or +1 346 248 7799  or +1 669 900 6833 
    Meeting ID: 961 1025 2748
    Passcode: 471397
    International numbers available: https://simonsfoundation.zoom.us/u/ab8PoaNn0t

Or an H.323 room system:
        162.255.36.11 (US East)
    Meeting ID: 961 1025 2748
    Passcode: 471397