Langevin dynamics deciphers the motility pattern of swimming parasites

Zaburdaev V, Uppaluri S, Pfohl T, Engstler M, Friedrich R, Stark H (2011)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2011

Journal

Physical Review Letters American Physical Society

Book Volume: 106

Article Number: 208103

Journal Issue: 20

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.208103

Abstract

The parasite African trypanosome swims in the bloodstream of mammals and causes the highly dangerous human sleeping sickness. Cell motility is essential for the parasite's survival within the mammalian host. We present an analysis of the random-walk pattern of a swimming trypanosome. From experimental time-autocorrelation functions for the direction of motion we identify two relaxation times that differ by an order of magnitude. They originate from the rapid deformations of the cell body and a slower rotational diffusion of the average swimming direction. Velocity fluctuations are athermal and increase for faster cells whose trajectories are also straighter. We demonstrate that such a complex dynamics is captured by two decoupled Langevin equations that decipher the complex trajectory pattern by referring it to the microscopic details of cell behavior. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Berlin DE Germany (DE) Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg DE Germany (DE) Universität Basel CH Switzerland (CH) Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation / Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization DE Germany (DE) Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU) Münster DE Germany (DE) Harvard University US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Zaburdaev, V., Uppaluri, S., Pfohl, T., Engstler, M., Friedrich, R., & Stark, H. (2011). Langevin dynamics deciphers the motility pattern of swimming parasites. Physical Review Letters, 106(20). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.208103

MLA:

Zaburdaev, Vasily, et al. "Langevin dynamics deciphers the motility pattern of swimming parasites." Physical Review Letters 106.20 (2011).

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