Effect of Internal Friction on Biofilament Dynamics

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Abstract
We consider biofilaments—flexible multimolecule structures common in cell biology—and show how “internal” friction associated with either conformational fluctuations or with fluid flow through narrow pores inside the filaments can dominate the external hydrodynamic friction usually considered to be the main energy dissipation process. The signature of this is wave-number–independent relaxation time of bending fluctuations. Preliminary experimental data for bending fluctuations of single folded (mitotic) chromosomes display these dynamics.