Figure 4.
The Capture of Molecules in Crowded Synapses Is Improved by the Distribution of Sites in Multiple Clusters
(A1-A2 and B1-B2) Number of large molecules bound versus time (Pbind = 0.9) in synapses with initially 50 free sites, with no extra obstacles (A1 and A2) or 200 extra obstacles (B1 and B2) at t = 0. Sites were separated by 10 nm (A1 and B1) or 15 nm (A2 and B2) and distributed in 1, 2, 4, or 7 clusters as indicated. Colors in A1. Mean (line) ± SD (shaded areas), 10 independent simulations.
(C1-C2) Number of bound molecules after 37.5s of simulation run for the simulations described in A1 and B1 (C1) and A2 and B2 (C2) (median and 25%–75% IQR, whiskers: 5%–95% range, one-way ANOVA, ns: not significant; ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.001).