Accessible pore geometry governs tracer diffusion in crowded environments

Abstract

Tracer diffusion in crowded environments is central to many biological and soft matter systems, but quantitative frameworks for linking tracer motion to environmental structure remain limited, and the co-dependence among geometric variables that facilitate or hinder tracer transport is not yet well understood. Here, we study the transport of rigid tracers in suspensions of soft particles and within living cells. Experiments reveal a transition from diffusive to confined motion as the matrix area fraction increases. The observed ensemble-level statistics, including the mean-squared displacements (MSDs), can be reproduced using a minimal simulation. Using simulation outputs, we train a parallel partial Gaussian process (PPGP) model that rapidly predicts MSDs from matrix geometric variables, including area fraction, particle size, and polydispersity. Analysis reveals that tracer transport is primarily governed by accessible pore sizes and that distinct global structures can produce indistinguishable MSDs. While MSDs do not uniquely encode system geometrical parameters, we nevertheless find correspondence between pore size distribution and the ensemble MSDs. By modeling matrix self-diffusivity, the minimal model can also phenomenologically describe MSDs of internalized tracer particles in cells. The framework enables rapid inference of structural properties in crowded environments, including transport in the intracellular environment.