2019/07/21 by Mudong Feng, Michael K. Gilson, Feng, Mudong +1 · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #Biomolecules (q-bio.BM) #Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph) #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1907.08909
openalex publication_date 2019/07/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Many enzymes appear to diffuse faster in the presence of substrate and to drift either up or down a concentration gradient of their substrate. Observations of these phenomena, termed enhanced enzyme diffusion (EED) and enzyme chemotaxis, respectively, lead to a novel view of enzymes as active matter. Enzyme chemotaxis and EED may be important in biology, and they could have practical applications in biotechnology and nanotechnology. They also are of considerable biophysical interest; indeed, their physical mechanisms are still quite uncertain. This review provides an analytic summary of experimental studies of these phenomena and of the mechanisms that have been proposed to explain them, and offers a perspective of future directions for the field.