Journal
PHYSICA A-STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Volume 372, Issue 1, Pages 113-123Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2006.05.008
Keywords
cell motility; actin; myosin; lamellipodium; viscoelastic; treadmilling
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Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [U54 GM064346, U54 GM064346-089040] Funding Source: Medline
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Cell crawling is an important biological phenomenon because it underlies coordinated cell movement in morphogenesis, cancer and wound healing. This phenomenon is based on protrusion at the cell's leading edge, retraction at the rear, contraction and graded adhesion powered by the dynamics of actin and myosin protein networks. A few one-dimensional models successfully explain an anteroposterior organization of the motile cell, but don't sufficiently explore the viscoelastic nature of the actin-myosin gel. We develop and numerically solve a model of a treadmilling strip of viscoelastic actin-myosin gel. The results show that the strip translocates steadily as a traveling pulse, without changing length, and that protein densities, velocities and stresses become stationary. The simulations closely match the observed forces, movements and protein distributions in the living cell. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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