Tug-of-war between actomyosin-driven antagonistic forces determines the positioning symmetry in cell-sized confinement.

ABSTRACT: Symmetric or asymmetric positioning of intracellular structures including the nucleus and mitotic spindle steers various biological processes such as cell migration, division, and embryogenesis. In typical animal cells, both a sparse actomyosin meshwork in the cytoplasm and a dense actomyosin cortex underneath the cell membrane participate in the intracellular positioning. However, it remains unclear how these coexisting actomyosin structures regulate the positioning symmetry. To reveal the potential mechanism, we construct an in vitro model composed of cytoplasmic extracts and nucleus-like clusters confined in droplets. Here we find that periodic centripetal actomyosin waves contract from the droplet boundary push clusters to the center in large droplets, while network percolation of bulk

SUBMITTER: Sakamoto R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7295813 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature