Programmed mechano-chemical coupling in reaction-diffusion active matter

Abstract

Two major out-of-equilibrium patterning mechanisms were conjugated within a life-like synthetic material.

Crosslinking and depletion determine spatial instabilities in cytoskeletal active matter

“…In summary, this work provides a unified view of spatial instabilities in cytoskeletal active gels and provides an experimental and theoretical framework to design active materials with controllable out-of-equilibrium properties. 19,34–36…”

“…Besides bending and buckling instabilities, global and local contractions have been reported both in actin–myosin gels 8,10 and in MT–motors mixtures. 9,11,12,16 In the Dogic system, global contractions appear with taxol MTs, 6,17–19 while local contractions arise with GMPCPP MTs. 18,19 Very recent experiments, however, have observed both types of contractions with GMPCPP MTs.…”

“…9,11,12,16 In the Dogic system, global contractions appear with taxol MTs, 6,17–19 while local contractions arise with GMPCPP MTs. 18,19 Very recent experiments, however, have observed both types of contractions with GMPCPP MTs. 20 Finally, dynamic microtubules in the presence of multiheaded-kinesins yield chaotic flows or local contractions in the absence of depletant 21 depending on the ratio between MT growth and motor speed, and the ratio between the motor and MT concentration.…”

Spatial programming of self-organizing chemical systems using sustained physicochemical gradients from reaction, diffusion and hydrodynamics

“…As a result, it becomes possible to translate the high degree of control inherent to DNA programming into macroscale spatial patterns and sustained out-of-equilibrium gradients. This concept has been exploited by various research groups, [84][85][86][87][88] who implemented toeholdmediated DNA strand displacement reactions into reactiondiffusion networks. Such reactions require a partially hybridized complex of two DNA strands, to which a single complementary DNA strand is then added as an input.…”

Controlling the Synchronization of Molecular Oscillators through Indirect Coupling

“…For instance, the clock and wave-front mechanism, in which the state of a local molecular clock is "locked in place" by a traveling wave, provides spatial differentiation [19,20]. Taking inspiration from that mechanism, synthetic oscillators can be applied to the study of morphogenesis [21] and to the creation of novel active materials [22].…”