Density and diffusion limited aggregation in membranes.

Abstract

Aggregation of membrane molecules is a crucial phenomenon in developing organisms, a classic example being the aggregation of post-synaptic receptors during synaptogenesis. Our understanding of the molecular events involved is improving, but most models of the aggregation or concentration process do not address binding events on the molecular level. An exception is the study of diffusion limited aggregation, in which the aggregation process is simulated on a molecular level. In this analysis, however, important physical parameters such as molecular size, diffusion constant and initial density are not addressed. Thus no predictions about the rate at which such aggregates will form is possible. In the present work the model of diffusion limited aggregation is extended to incorporate these parameters and make the corresponding predictions.