BROWNIAN DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS OF INTRACELLULAR TRANSPORT
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Abstract:
Brownian dynamics simulations of intracellular transport constitute a powerful computational tool for examining the motion and interactions of biomolecules within the highly complex cellular environment. By applying principles of stochastic processes—particularly fractional Brownian motion—these simulations enable researchers to reproduce the intricate transport behaviors exhibited by proteins, vesicles, and other molecular structures in crowded and viscous intracellular spaces. This approach is especially valuable because it captures both sub-diffusive and super-diffusive movement patterns through the use of a tunable Hurst exponent, allowing for realistic modeling of cargo transport by motor proteins along cytoskeletal filaments as well as transport across the nuclear pore complex during nucleocytoplasmic exchange.
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