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Related Concept Videos

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview01:03

Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview

Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview01:20

Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview

The polymerization process that involves carbanion as an intermediate is called anionic polymerization. It is also a type of addition or chain-growth polymerization. Anionic polymerization gets initiated by a strong nucleophile such as an organolithium or a Grignard reagent. The most commonly used initiator for anionic polymerization is butyl lithium. Monomers involved in anionic polymerization must possess a vinyl group bonded to one or two electron-withdrawing groups. For instance,...
ATP and Macromolecule Synthesis01:28

ATP and Macromolecule Synthesis

Biological macromolecules are organic compounds, predominantly composed of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are covalently bonded with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other minor elements. There are four major biological macromolecule classes: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
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Conversion of...
Polymer Classification: Architecture01:14

Polymer Classification: Architecture

Polymers are classified as linear or branched on the basis of their chain architecture. The polymer chains in linear polymers have a long chain-like structure with minimal to no branching at all. Even if a polymer features large substituent groups on the monomer, which appear as branches to the skeleton, it is not considered a branched polymer. A branched polymer contains secondary polymer chains that arise from the main polymer chain. The branching occurs when the polymer growth shifts from...
Polymers02:34

Polymers

The word polymer is derived from the Greek words “poly” which means “many” and “mer” which means “parts”. Polymers are long chains of molecules composed of repeating units of smaller molecules, known as monomers. They either occur naturally, such as DNA and proteins, or can be constructed synthetically, like plastics. They have varied structural characteristics, such as linear chains, branched chains, or complex networks, that contribute to the properties that they exhibit. Additionally,...
Polymers02:34

Polymers

The word polymer is derived from the Greek words “poly” which means “many” and “mer” which means “parts”. Polymers are long chains of molecules composed of repeating units of smaller molecules, known as monomers. They either occur naturally, such as DNA and proteins, or can be constructed synthetically, like plastics. They have varied structural characteristics, such as linear chains, branched chains, or complex networks, that contribute to the properties that they exhibit. Additionally,...

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Combinatorial Synthesis of and High-throughput Protein Release from Polymer Film and Nanoparticle Libraries
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Combinatorial Synthesis of and High-throughput Protein Release from Polymer Film and Nanoparticle Libraries

Published on: September 6, 2012

Active biopolymers confer fast reorganization kinetics.

Douglas Swanson1, Ned S Wingreen

  • 1Department of Physics, Princeton University, New Jersey 08544, USA. dsswanso@princeton.edu

Physical Review Letters
|December 21, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Active polymers reorganize faster than passive polymers. This faster reorganization, with mean first-passage time scaling as mean length to the power of 1/2, may justify their higher energy cost in cells.

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Polymer Physics
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Cytoskeletal biopolymers are crucial for cellular structure and function.
  • Many biopolymers are 'active,' requiring significant energy for their operation.
  • Understanding the dynamics of active versus passive polymers is key to cell biology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify fundamental kinetic differences between active and passive polymers.
  • To investigate the relationship between polymer length and reorganization time.
  • To provide a biophysical rationale for the energy expenditure of active biopolymers.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical modeling of active and equilibrium polymer dynamics.
  • Analysis of mean first-passage time (MFPT) scaling with mean polymer length.

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  • Comparison with established models like 1D Potts models.

    • Main Results:

    • Equilibrium polymers exhibit linear scaling (MFPT∼) between mean lifetime and mean length.
    • Active polymers demonstrate improved scaling (MFPT∼(1/2)), indicating faster reorganization.
    • This difference is fundamental, irrespective of absolute mean lengths.

    Conclusions:

    • Active polymers possess a kinetic advantage in reorganization over equilibrium polymers.
    • The enhanced reorganization speed of active polymers may explain their substantial energy consumption.
    • This finding offers insight into the functional necessity of energy-intensive cytoskeletal dynamics in cells.