Anomalous Michaelis-Menten kinetics in crowded environments (C03/Erg.)

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2017 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 235221301

The diffusion of macromolecules (e. g., proteins) in the interior of living cells differs significantly from that in dilute solutions, which is commonly attributed to the dense packing of cells (“macromolecular crowding”). A cascade of time and length scales governs this anomalous transport and is expected to render the kinetics of chemical reactions anomalous as well. This project is to study the Michaelis-Menten kinetics in the crowded environment of the Lorentz model, combining large-scale simulations of the microscopic model, scaling theory, spatio-temporal chemical master equations, and effective medium theory.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1114: Scaling Cascades in Complex Systems
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Felix Höfling