Modeling the Excess Cell Surface Stored in a Complex Morphology of Bleb-Like Protrusions.

ABSTRACT: Cells transition from spread to rounded morphologies in diverse physiological contexts including mitosis and mesenchymal-to-amoeboid transitions. When these drastic shape changes occur rapidly, cell volume and surface area are approximately conserved. Consequently, the rounded cells are suddenly presented with a several-fold excess of cell surface whose area far exceeds that of a smooth sphere enclosing the cell volume. This excess is stored in a population of bleb-like protrusions (BLiPs), whose size distribution is shown by electron micrographs to be skewed. We introduce three complementary models of rounded cell morphologies with a prescribed excess surface area. A 2D Hamiltonian model provides a mechanistic description of how discrete attachment points between the cell surface and cort

SUBMITTER: Kapustina M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4807848 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature