Flows, self-organization, and transport in living cells

The movement and placement of cellular components is crucial for the proper development of egg cells and embryos. These transport processes take place within the fluidic interior of the cell and can yield surprisingly complex fluid-structure interactions. Fortunately, advances in mathematical modeling, multiscale coarse-graining, and the large-scale simulation of fluid-structure interactions have all helped in the understanding of this fundamental cellular biology. This paper discusses how simulations of immersed mobile structures and load-bearing biopolymers within cells helped show how the mitotic spindle finds its proper place inside an embryo approaching its very first cell division. Also discussed is the role played by coarse-grained porous medium models, stability analyses, and large-scale fluid-structure simulation, in revealing the self-organized processes that may underlie large-scale transport flows in developing egg cells.