Self Assembly of Model Polymers into Biological Random Networks

<div>The properties of biological networks, such as those found in the ocular lens capsule, are difficult to study without simplified models.</div><div>Model polymers are developed, inspired by "worm-like'' curve models, that are shown to spontaneously self assemble</div><div>to form networks similar to those observed experimentally in biological systems.</div><div>These highly simplified coarse-grained models allow the self assembly process to be studied on near-realistic time-scales.</div><div>Metrics are developed (using a polygon-based framework)</div><div>which are useful for describing simulated networks and can also be applied to images of real networks.</div><div>These metrics are used to show the range of control that the computational polymer model has over the networks, including the polygon structure and short range order.</div><div>The structure of the simulated networks are compared to previous simulation work and microscope images of real networks. </div><div>The network structure is shown to be a function of the interaction strengths, cooling rates and external pressure. </div><div>In addition, "pre-tangled'' network structures are introduced and shown to significantly influence the subsequent network structure.</div><div>The network structures obtained fit into a region of the network landscape effectively inaccessible to random</div><div>(entropically-driven) networks but which are occupied by experimentally-derived configurations.</div>