Reversibility and Viscoelastic Properties of Micropillar Supported and Oriented Magnesium Bundled F-Actin.

ABSTRACT: Filamentous actin is one of the most important cytoskeletal elements. Not only is it responsible for the elastic properties of many cell types, but it also plays a vital role in cellular adhesion and motility. Understanding the bundling kinetics of actin filaments is important in the formation of various cytoskeletal structures, such as filopodia and stress fibers. Utilizing a unique pillar-structured microfluidic device, we investigated the time dependence of bundling kinetics of pillar supported free-standing actin filaments. Microparticles attached to the filaments allowed the measurement of thermal motion, and we found that bundling takes place at lower concentrations than previously found in 3-dimensional actin gels, i.e. actin filaments formed bundles in the presence of 5-12 mM of ma

SUBMITTER: Maier T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4556452 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature