Received 25 June 2012; Revised 7 December 2012; Accepted 19 December 2012 | Felix Höfling and Thomas Franosch
The article reviews the phenomenon of anomalous transport in biological cells, where the diffusive motion of macromolecules and organelles is not described by the conventional diffusion equation due to the dense and heterogeneous nature of cellular interiors and membranes. The review covers various theoretical models, including Gaussian models like fractional Brownian motion and Langevin equations for visco-elastic media, the continuous-time random walk (CTRW) model, and the Lorentz model for obstructed transport in heterogeneous environments. It emphasizes the spatio-temporal properties of transport, such as two-point correlation functions and dynamic scaling behavior. The article also discusses experimental techniques like single-particle tracking, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) used to study anomalous transport in crowded biological media. Recent experimental evidence from in vivo and in vitro experiments is reviewed, highlighting the suppression of diffusion constants and subdiffusive motion. Computer simulations are discussed as a tool to test theoretical models and support experimental findings. The review concludes with a synthesis of theoretical and experimental progress, identifying open questions for future research.The article reviews the phenomenon of anomalous transport in biological cells, where the diffusive motion of macromolecules and organelles is not described by the conventional diffusion equation due to the dense and heterogeneous nature of cellular interiors and membranes. The review covers various theoretical models, including Gaussian models like fractional Brownian motion and Langevin equations for visco-elastic media, the continuous-time random walk (CTRW) model, and the Lorentz model for obstructed transport in heterogeneous environments. It emphasizes the spatio-temporal properties of transport, such as two-point correlation functions and dynamic scaling behavior. The article also discusses experimental techniques like single-particle tracking, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) used to study anomalous transport in crowded biological media. Recent experimental evidence from in vivo and in vitro experiments is reviewed, highlighting the suppression of diffusion constants and subdiffusive motion. Computer simulations are discussed as a tool to test theoretical models and support experimental findings. The review concludes with a synthesis of theoretical and experimental progress, identifying open questions for future research.