Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles.

ABSTRACT: Bundles of cytoskeletal filaments and molecular motors generate motion in living cells, and have internal structures ranging from very organized to apparently disordered. The mechanisms powering the disordered structures are debated, and existing models predominantly predict that they are contractile. We reexamine this prediction through a theoretical treatment of the interplay between three well-characterized internal dynamical processes in cytoskeletal bundles: filament assembly and disassembly, the attachement-detachment dynamics of motors and that of crosslinking proteins. The resulting self-organization is easily understood in terms of motor and crosslink localization, and allows for an extensive control of the active bundle mechanics, including reversals of the filaments' apparent ve

SUBMITTER: Lenz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7082124 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature