Interplay of active processes modulates tension and drives phase transition in self-renewing, motor-driven cytoskeletal networks

Michael Mak, Muhammad H. Zaman (), Roger D. Kamm () and Taeyoon Kim ()
Additional contact information
Michael Mak: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Muhammad H. Zaman: Boston University, 44 Cummington Mall, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
Roger D. Kamm: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Taeyoon Kim: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, 206 S. Martin Jischke Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The actin cytoskeleton—a complex, nonequilibrium network consisting of filaments, actin-crosslinking proteins (ACPs) and motors—confers cell structure and functionality, from migration to morphogenesis. While the core components are recognized, much less is understood about the behaviour of the integrated, disordered and internally active system with interdependent mechano-chemical component properties. Here we use a Brownian dynamics model that incorporates key and realistic features—specifically actin turnover, ACP (un)binding and motor walking—to reveal the nature and underlying regulatory mechanisms of overarching cytoskeletal states. We generate multi-dimensional maps that show the ratio in activity of these microscopic elements determines diverse global stress profiles and the induction of nonequilibrium morphological phase transition from homogeneous to aggregated networks. In particular, actin turnover dynamics plays a prominent role in tuning stress levels and stabilizing homogeneous morphologies in crosslinked, motor-driven networks. The consequence is versatile functionality, from dynamic steady-state prestress to large, pulsed constrictions.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10323 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10323

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10323

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().