  Single receptor-ligand bonds have finite lifetimes, so that biological
systems can dynamically react to changes in their environment. In cell
adhesion, adhesion bonds usually act cooperatively in adhesion clusters.
Outside the cellular context, adhesion clusters can be probed quantitatively by
attaching receptors and ligands to opposing surfaces. Here we present a
detailed theoretical analysis of the stochastic dynamics of a cluster of
parallel bonds under shared constant loading and with rebinding. Analytical
solutions for the appropriate one-step master equation are presented for
special cases, while the general case is treated with exact stochastic
simulations. If the completely dissociated state is modeled as an absorbing
boundary, mean cluster lifetime is finite and can be calculated exactly. We
also present a detailed analysis of fluctuation effects and discuss various
approximations to the full stochastic description.
