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

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 contractil...

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Autor principal: Lenz, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082124/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32149609
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.51751
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author Lenz, Martin
author_facet Lenz, Martin
author_sort Lenz, Martin
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description 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 velocities and the possibility of generating extension instead of contraction. This reversal mirrors some recent experimental observations, and provides a robust criterion to experimentally elucidate the underpinnings of both actomyosin activity and the dynamics of microtubule/motor assemblies in vitro as well as in diverse intracellular structures ranging from contractile bundles to the mitotic spindle.
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spelling pubmed-70821242020-03-23 Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles Lenz, Martin eLife Physics of Living Systems 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 velocities and the possibility of generating extension instead of contraction. This reversal mirrors some recent experimental observations, and provides a robust criterion to experimentally elucidate the underpinnings of both actomyosin activity and the dynamics of microtubule/motor assemblies in vitro as well as in diverse intracellular structures ranging from contractile bundles to the mitotic spindle. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2020-03-09 /pmc/articles/PMC7082124/ /pubmed/32149609 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.51751 Text en © 2020, Lenz http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Physics of Living Systems
Lenz, Martin
Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
title Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
title_full Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
title_fullStr Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
title_full_unstemmed Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
title_short Reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
title_sort reversal of contractility as a signature of self-organization in cytoskeletal bundles
topic Physics of Living Systems
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082124/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32149609
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.51751
work_keys_str_mv AT lenzmartin reversalofcontractilityasasignatureofselforganizationincytoskeletalbundles