Diffusion limited immunochemical sensing (Q1823181)

The reaction between diffusing molecules and receptor molecules fixed on the surface of cells is of growing importance in biology, especially in immunology. Only very simple models could be solved analytically up to now. The author proposes a reversible first order reaction - as an extension to irreversible first order reactions dealt with earlier - leading to rediffusing molecules. The stationary solution of the problem is given fairly straightforward, whereas the time dependent solution relies on the numerical solution of a nonlinear integral equation, but seems to be of special interest in experimental situations.