Biomedical subjects

Haim Diamant

Publications and source records attributed to Haim Diamant.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Enhanced dispersion interaction in confined geometry.

The dispersion interaction between two pointlike particles confined in a dielectric slab between two plates of another dielectric medium is studied within a continuum (Lifshitz) theory. The retarded (Casimir-Polder) interaction at large interparticle distances is found to be strongly enhanced as the mismatch between the dielectric permittivities of the two media is increased. The large-distance interaction is multiplied due to confinement by a factor of (33gamma(5/2) + 13gamma(-3/2))/46 at zero temperature, and by (5gamma2 + gamma(-2))/6 at finite temperature, gamma = epsilon(in)(0)/epsilon(out)(0) being the ratio between the static dielectric permittivities of the inner and outer media. This confinement-induced amplification of the dispersion interaction can reach several orders of magnitude.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Influence of hydrodynamic coupling on pair diffusion in a quasi-one-dimensional colloid system.

The effect of hydrodynamic interaction on the separation dependence of the center of mass and relative pair diffusion coefficients of colloid particles in a quasi-one-dimensional system, including the influence of proximate walls, is calculated using the method of reflections. There is excellent agreement between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data. We show that the separation dependence of the relative pair diffusion coefficient has an oscillatory structure on the scale length of the correlation length in the system, and we directly relate that oscillatory structure to the pair correlation function of the system.

Biopolymers↗

PubMed2005

From random walk to single-file diffusion.

We report an experimental study of diffusion in a quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) colloid suspension which behaves like a Tonks gas. The mean squared displacement as a function of time is described well with an ansatz encompassing a time regime that is both shorter and longer than the mean time between collisions. The ansatz asserts that the inverse mean squared displacement is the sum of the inverse mean squared displacement for short time normal diffusion (random walk) and the inverse mean squared displacement for asymptotic single-file diffusion (SFD). The dependence of the 1D mobility in the SFD on the concentration of the colloids agrees quantitatively with that derived for a hard rod model, which confirms for the first time the validity of the hard rod SFD theory. We also show that a recent SFD theory by Kollmann leads to the hard rod SFD theory for a Tonks gas.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Anomalous hydrodynamic interaction in a quasi-two-dimensional suspension.

We study the correlated Brownian motion of micron-sized particles suspended in water and confined between two plates. The hydrodynamic interaction between the particles exhibits three anomalies. (i) The transverse coupling is negative; i.e., particles exert "antidrag" on one another when moving perpendicular to their connecting line. (ii) The interaction decays with interparticle distance r as 1/r(2), faster than in unconfined suspensions but slower than near a single wall. (iii) At large distances, the pair interaction is independent of concentration within the experimental accuracy. The confined suspension thus provides an unusual example of long-range, yet essentially pairwise, correlations even at high concentration. These effects are shown to arise from the two-dimensional dipolar form of the flow induced by single-particle motion.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Increased concentration of polyvalent phospholipids in the adsorption domain of a charged protein.

We studied the adsorption of a charged protein onto an oppositely charged membrane, composed of mobile phospholipids of differing valence, using a statistical-thermodynamical approach. A two-block model was employed, one block corresponding to the protein-affected region on the membrane, referred to as the adsorption domain, and the other to the unaffected remainder of the membrane. We calculated the protein-induced lipid rearrangement in the adsorption domain as arising from the interplay between the electrostatic interactions in the system and the mixing entropy of the lipids. Equating the electrochemical potentials of the lipids in the two blocks yields an expression for the relations among the various lipid fractions in the adsorption domain, indicating a sensitive dependence of lipid fraction on valence. This expression is a result of the two-block picture but does not depend on further details of the protein-membrane interaction. We subsequently calculated the lipid fractions themselves using the Poisson-Boltzmann theory. We examined the dependence of lipid enrichment, i.e., the ratio between the lipid fractions inside and outside the adsorption domain, on various parameters such as ionic strength and lipid valence. Maximum enrichment was found for lipid valence in the range between -3 and -4 in physiological conditions. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental studies on the interactions between peptides having a domain of basic residues and membranes containing a small fraction of the polyvalent phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). This study provides theoretical support for the suggestion that proteins adsorbed onto membranes through a cluster of basic residues may sequester PIP2 and other polyvalent lipids.

Lipid Bilayers↗

PubMed2002

Screened hydrodynamic interaction in a narrow channel.

We study experimentally and theoretically the hydrodynamic coupling between Brownian colloidal particles diffusing along a linear channel. The quasi-one-dimensional confinement, unlike other constrained geometries, leads to a sharply screened interaction. Consequently, particles move in concert only when their mutual distance is smaller than the channel width, and two-body interactions remain dominant up to high particle densities. The coupling in a cylindrical channel is predicted to reverse sign at a certain distance, yet this unusual effect is too small to be currently detectable.

Colloids↗

PubMed2002

Tension and solute depletion in multilamellar vesicles.

We show that a metastable multilamellar vesicle ("onion"), in contact with excess solvent, can spontaneously deplete solute molecules from its interior through an unusual, entropy-driven mechanism. Fluctuation entropy is gained as the uneven partition of solute molecules helps the onion relieve tension in its lamellae. This mechanism accounts for recent experiments on the interaction between uncharged phospholipid onions and dissolved sugars.

Biophysical Phenomena↗