Impact of branching on the elasticity of actin networks.

ABSTRACT: Actin filaments play a fundamental role in cell mechanics: assembled into networks by a large number of partners, they ensure cell integrity, deformability, and migration. Here we focus on the mechanics of the dense branched network found at the leading edge of a crawling cell. We develop a new technique based on the dipolar attraction between magnetic colloids to measure mechanical properties of branched actin gels assembled around the colloids. This technique allows us to probe a large number of gels and, through the study of different networks, to access fundamental relationships between their microscopic structure and their mechanical properties. We show that the architecture does regulate the elasticity of the network: increasing both capping and branching concentrations strongly stif

SUBMITTER: Pujol T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3387051 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature