Heterogeneity mimics ageing for endosomal dynamics within eukaryotic cells #

Nickolay Korabel, Alessandro Taloni, Gianni Pagnini, Viki Allan, Sergei Fedotov, Thomas Andrew Waigh

15:10 Tuesday in 3Q16.

Part of the Stochastic processes and random walks session.

Abstract #

Transport processes of many structures inside living cells display anomalous diffusion as, for example, endosomes in eukaryotic cells. They are also inhomogeneous in space and time. Large ensembles of single particle trajectories allow us to quantify in detail heterogeneities and provide insights for mathematical modelling. The development of accurate mathematical models for heterogeneous dynamics has the potential to enable the design and optimization of various technological systems, e,g, example, the design of effective drug delivery systems. The central questions in the analysis of anomalous dynamics are ergodicity and statistical ageing which allow for selecting the proper model for the description. It is believed that non-ergodicity and ageing come together. However, we found that the anomalous dynamics of endosomes is paradoxical since it is ergodic but shows ageing. We show that this behaviour is caused by ensemble heterogeneity that, in addition to space-time inhomogeneity within a single trajectory, is an inherent property of endosomal motion. Many real-life processes are heterogeneous. Our work introduces novel approaches for the analysis and modelling of heterogeneous dynamics.