https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-01921-4
Regular Article
Simulating interactions between cytoskeletal filaments
1
Institute for the Dynamics of Complex Systems, University of Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
2
Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
3
Max Planck School Matter to Life, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
a
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Received:
4
April
2025
Accepted:
5
September
2025
Published online:
13
September
2025
Abstract
The cytoskeleton is a composite network consisting of three different types of filaments. Their interaction contributes to shaping the mechanical properties of cells. The minimal system to study these interactions are two filaments in contact, either directly or via a crosslinker. Such systems have been studied with quadruple optical trap assays. Here we use simulations to study filament–filament interactions. We parametrize these simulations with recent quadruple optical trap assays addressing the interactions of microtubules and vimentin intermediate filament and use them to study whether these experiments can distinguish between interactions via a single bond or multiple bonds.
Kristian A. T. Pajanonot, Sophia Hampe and Komal Bhattacharyya contributed equally to this work.
© The Author(s) 2025
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