Mechanisms of Enzyme Chemotaxis and Nonreciprocal Interactions
Open Access
- Author:
- Mandal, Niladri Sekhar
- Graduate Program:
- Chemical Engineering
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 17, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Robert Rioux, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Peter Butler, Outside Unit & Field Member
Ali Borhan, Major & Minor Field Member
Darrell Velegol, Major & Minor Field Member
Ayusman Sen, Chair & Dissertation Advisor - Keywords:
- Enzyme Chemotaxis
Nonreciprocal Interactions
active matter - Abstract:
- Single enzyme chemotaxis has drawn considerable attention in recent years both in experiments and in theoretical studies. This phenomenon is characterized by the biased motion of enzymes towards or away from its substrate molecules. A comprehensive understanding of enzyme chemotaxis will be a major advancement since chemotaxis not just preserves special significance in fundamental concepts such as origin of life but also can be used for modern day applications such as diagnostics, drug discovery and targeted therapeutics. Another phenomenon that is receiving widespread attention currently is nonreciprocal interactions. Newton’s third law of equal action and reaction dictates that interactions will be reciprocal; an attractive force gets attractive response and so does a repulsive force. Living beings does not adhere to such norms, reciprocal interactions are generally never guaranteed. A simple example is that of a predator and a prey, one chases, and the other runs away. Nonreciprocal interactions are an important quality of life and might be a key element in understanding its origin. While the direct study of origin of life proves to be too arduous, topics such as chemotaxis and nonreciprocal interactions may help in taking us closer to the holy grail of solving mystery of how life began. In this dissertation work, I study the theory of chemotaxis in single enzymes and attempt to elucidate the primary controlling factors of the phenomenon. This work accounts for not only enzyme chemotaxis but also has widespread significance in evolution of chemical systems. Next, I extend the principles of chemotaxis to show that enzymes can perform nonreciprocal interactions, basically I offer a molecular origin of nonreciprocity in biological systems. I believe my combined work on chemotaxis and nonreciprocal interactions will be useful to scientists studying topics such as nonequilibrium systems, collective behavior and also the origin of life.