The effect of composition on diffusion of macromolecules in a crowded environment

Abstract

We study diffusion of macromolecules in a crowded cytoplasm-like environment, focusing on its dependence on composition and its crossover to the anomalous subdiffusion. The crossover and the diffusion itself depend on both the volume fraction and the relative concentration of macromolecules. In accordance with previous theoretical and experimental studies, diffusion slows down when the volume fraction increases. Contrary to expectations, however, the diffusion is also strongly dependent on the molecular composition. The crossover time decreases and diffusion slows down when the smaller macromolecules start to dominate. Interestingly, diffusion is faster in a cytoplasm-like (more polydisperse) system than it is in a two-component system, at comparable packing fractions, or even when the cytoplasm packing fraction is larger.