Mechanical and biochemical feedback combine to generate complex contractile oscillations in cytokinesis.

ABSTRACT: The actomyosin cortex is an active material that generates force to drive shape changes via cytoskeletal remodeling. Cytokinesis is the essential cell division event during which a cortical actomyosin ring closes to separate two daughter cells. Our active gel theory predicted that actomyosin systems controlled by a biochemical oscillator and experiencing mechanical strain would exhibit complex spatiotemporal behavior. To test whether active materials in vivo exhibit spatiotemporally complex kinetics, we imaged the C. elegans embryo with unprecedented temporal resolution and discovered that sections of the cytokinetic cortex undergo periodic phases of acceleration and deceleration. Contractile oscillations exhibited a range of periodicities, including those much longer periods than the time

SUBMITTER: Werner ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11634113 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature