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. 2018 Mar 30;120(13):138102.
doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.138102.

Hydro-osmotic Instabilities in Active Membrane Tubes

Sami C Al-Izzi  1   2   3   4 , George Rowlands  2 , Pierre Sens  3   4 , Matthew S Turner  2   5
Affiliations

Hydro-osmotic Instabilities in Active Membrane Tubes

Sami C Al-Izzi et al. Phys Rev Lett. .

Abstract

We study a membrane tube with unidirectional ion pumps driving an osmotic pressure difference. A pressure-driven peristaltic instability is identified, qualitatively distinct from similar tension-driven Rayleigh-type instabilities on membrane tubes. We discuss how this instability could be related to the function and biogenesis of membrane bound organelles, in particular, the contractile vacuole complex. The unusually long natural wavelength of this instability is in agreement with that observed in cells.

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