https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2014-02195-9
Regular Article
Polymerization, bending, tension: What happens at the leading edge of motile cells?
1 Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany
2 Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
a e-mail: martin.falcke@mdc-berlin.de
Received: 4 February 2014
Revised: 14 April 2014
Published online: 12 June 2014
The forces experienced by filaments in actin based propulsion in reconstituted systems and cell motility, the mechanical properties of the lamellipodium of motile cells due to filament branching and cross-linking, the free filament contour length between branch points, the mechanisms of the force-velocity relation and velocity oscillations are all topics of ongoing debate. Here, we review results with a modelling concept considering the F-actin network as weakly cross-linked in a region with dynamic depth close to the propelled obstacle and gel-like further back. It offers quantitative explanations for steady motion and oscillation mechanisms in reconstituted systems and motile cells, and the force-velocity relation of fish keratocytes.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2014
