Bidirectional transport in a multispecies TASEP model

Abstract: We study a minimal lattice model which describes bidirectional transport of "particles" driven along a one dimensional track, as is observed in microtubule based, motor protein driven bidirectional transport of cargo vesicles, lipid bodies and organelles such as mitochondria. This minimal model, a multi-species totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP) with directional switching, can provide a framework for understanding the interplay between the switching dynamics of individual particles and the collective movement of particles in 1-dimension. When switching is much faster than translocation, the steady state density and current profiles of the particles are homogeneous in the bulk and are well described by a Mean-Field (MF) theory, as determined by comparison to a Monte Carlo simulation. In this limit, we construct a non-equilibrium phase diagram. Away from this fast switching regime, the MF theory fails, although the average bulk density profile still remains homogeneous. We study the steady state behaviour as a function of the ratio of the translocation and net switching rates, Q, and find a unique first-order phase transition at a finite Q associated with a discontinuous change of the bulk density. When the switching rate is decreased further (keeping translocation rate fixed), the system approaches a jammed phase with a net current that tends to zero as J ~ 1/Q.