English

Continuum Description of the Cytoskeleton: Ring Formation in the Cell Cortex

Subcellular Processes 2009-11-11 v1

Abstract

Motivated by the formation of ring-like filament structures in the cortex of plant and animal cells, we study the dynamics of a two-dimensional layer of cytoskeletal filaments and motor proteins near a surface by a general continuum theory. As a result of active processes, dynamic patterns of filament orientation and density emerge via instabilities. We show that self-organization phenomena can lead to the formation of stationary and oscillating rings. We present state diagrams which reveal a rich scenario of asymptotic behaviors and discuss the role of boundary conditions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.q-bio/0510050,
  title  = {Continuum Description of the Cytoskeleton: Ring Formation in the Cell Cortex},
  author = {Alexander Zumdieck and Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino and Catalin Tanase and Karsten Kruse and Bela Mulder and Marileen Dogterom and Frank J"ulicher},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:q-bio/0510050},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

5 pages, 4 figures