Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 114, Issue 47, Pages E10037-E10045Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1708625114
Keywords
actin; myosin; active matter; mechanics; agent-based simulation
Categories
Funding
- Department of Defense through the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate program
- National Science Foundation Molecular Cellular Biosciences Grant [1344203]
- University of Chicago Materials Research Science and Engineering Center - National Science Foundation [DMR-1420709]
- NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Training Grant [T32EB009412]
- Div Of Molecular and Cellular Bioscience
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1344203] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Molecular motors embedded within collections of actin and microtubule filaments underlie the dynamics of cytoskeletal assemblies. Understanding the physics of such motor-filament materials is critical to developing a physical model of the cytoskeleton and designing biomimetic active materials. Here, we demonstrate through experiments and simulations that the rigidity and connectivity of filaments in active biopolymer networks regulates the anisotropy and the length scale of the underlying deformations, yielding materials with variable contractility. We find that semi- flexible filaments can be compressed and bent by motor stresses, yielding materials that undergo predominantly biaxial deformations. By contrast, rigid filament bundles slide without bending under motor stress, yielding materials that undergo predominantly uniaxial deformations. Networks dominated by biaxial deformations are robustly contractile over a wide range of connectivities, while networks dominated by uniaxial deformations can be tuned from extensile to contractile through cross-linking. These results identify physical parameters that control the forces generated within motor-filament arrays and provide insight into the self-organization and mechanics of cytoskeletal assemblies.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available