Vesicle propulsion in haptotaxis: A local model

We study theoretically vesicle locomotion due to haptotaxis. Haptotaxis is referred to motion induced by an adhesion gradient on a substrate. The problem is solved within a local approximation where a Rayleigh-type dissipation is adopted. The dynamical model is akin to the Rousse model for polymers. An invariant formulation is used to solve a dynamical model which includes a kind of dissipation due to bond breaking/restoring with the substrate. For a stationary situation where the vesicle acquires a constant drift velocity, we formulate the propulsion problem in terms of a nonlinear eigenvalue (the a priori unknown drift velocity) one of Barenblat-Zeldovitch type. A counting argument shows that the velocity belongs to a discrete set. For a relatively tense vesicle, we provide an analytical expression for the drift velocity as a function of relevant parameters. We find good agreement with the full numerical solution. Despite the oversimplification of the model it allows the identification of a relevant quantity, namely the adhesion length, which turns out to be crucial also in the nonlocal model in the presence of hydrodynamics; a situation on which we have recently reported (I. Cantat and C. Misbah, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 235 (1999)) and which constitutes the subject of a forthcoming extensive study.