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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Using Microfluidics and Fluorescence Microscopy to Study the Assembly Dynamics of Single Actin Filaments and Bundles
Published on: May 5, 2022
Sedimentation of pairs of hydrodynamically interacting semiflexible filaments
I Llopis1, I Pagonabarraga, M Cosentino Lagomarsino
1Departament de Física Fonamental, Universitat de Barcelona, C. Martí i Franqués 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract:
We describe the effect of hydrodynamic interactions in the sedimentation of a pair of inextensible semiflexible filaments under a uniform constant force at low Reynolds numbers. We have analyzed the different regimes and the morphology of such polymers in simple geometries, which allow us to highlight the peculiarities of the interplay between elastic and hydrodynamic stresses. Cooperative and symmetry breaking effects associated to the geometry of the fibers gives rise to characteristic motion which give them distinct properties from rigid and elastic filaments.
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