[NCTS Seminar] From Enzymatic Reactions to Cellular Organization: Active Thermodynamic Force and Maxwell’s Demon
Speaker: Prof. Tetsuhiro Hatakeyama (ELSI)
Talk title: From Enzymatic Reactions to Cellular Organization: Active Thermodynamic Force and Maxwell’s Demon
Time: 2025/11/27 (Thu.) 13:20-15:10
Place: Institute of Phys, NYCU, SC157 (Science Building III)
Host: Prof. Cheng-Hung Chang (NYCU)
Abstract:
Mitochondria are critical organelles in eukaryotes that produce the energy currency adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In nerve axons, mitochondria are known to align at almost regular intervals to maintain a constant ATP concentration, but little is known about the mechanism. In this Letter, we show theoretically that ATP production and ATP-dependent nondirectional movement of mitochondria are sufficient for alignment, even without an explicit repulsive force between them, or internal mitochondrial states, or memories. This is similar to thermodynamic forces driven by thermal fluctuations, even generated by nonequilibrium processes, and demonstrates the diversity of mechanisms governing the motion of biological matter.
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