Related papers: The actin cortex as an active wetting layer
In this paper, we bring together our efforts in identifying and understanding nonequilibrium phase segregation driven by active processes in the living cell, with special focus on the segregation of cell membrane components driven by active…
Recent experimental studies, both in vivo and in vitro, have revealed that membrane components that bind to the cortical actomyosin meshwork are driven by active fluctuations, whereas membrane components that do not bind to cortical actin…
The mechanical properties of polymer gels based on cytoskeleton proteins (e.g. actin) have been studied extensively due to their significant role in biological cell motility and in maintaining the cell's structural integrity. Microrheology…
Plasma treatment of polymer films results in their electrical charging, which in turn gives rise to an increase in their surface energy. The process results in pronounced hydrophilization of the polymer surfaces. A phenomenological theory…
In part 1, we proposed a model of dynamics of wetting for slow movements near a contact line formed at the interface of two immiscible fluids and a solid when viscous dissipation remains bounded. The contact line is not a material line and…
The understanding of the spreading of liquids on solid surfaces is an important challenge for contemporary physics. Today, the motion of the contact line formed at the intersection of two immiscible fluids and a solid is still subject to…
The actin cytoskeleton of cells is in continuous motion due to both polymerization of new filaments and their contraction by myosin II molecular motors. Through adhesion to the substrate, such intracellular flow can be converted into cell…
We study a model of contraction-based cell motility inside a microchannel to investigate the regulation of cell polarization and motion by the mechanical resistance of the environment. A positive feedback between the asymmetry of the…
Cell spreading and motility on an adhesive substrate are driven by the active physical forces generated by the actin cytoskeleton. We have recently shown that coupling curved membrane complexes to protrusive forces, exerted by the actin…
Contact inhibition is the process by which cells switch from a motile growing state to a passive and stabilized state upon touching their neighbors. When two cells touch, an adhesion link is created between them by means of transmembrane…
Biological systems tightly regulate their physiological state using control signals. This includes the actomyosin cytoskeleton, a contractile active gel that consumes chemical free energy to drive many examples of cellular mechanical…
We suggest a 3D phase field model to describe 3D cell spreading on a flat substrate. The model is a simplified version of a minimal model that was developed in [1]. Our model couples the order parameter $u$ with 3D polarization…
The actomyosin cortex is an active material that provides animal cells with a strong but flexible exterior, whose mechanics, including non-Gaussian fluctuations and occasional large displacements or cytoquakes, have defied explanation. We…
Neuronal cells change their growth properties in response to external physical stimuli such as variations in external temperature, stiffness of the growth substrate, or topographical guidance cues. Detailed knowledge of the mechanisms that…
In forced wetting, a rapidly moving surface drags with it a thin layer of trailing fluid as it is plunged into a second fluid bath. Using high-speed interferometry, we find characteristic structure in the thickness of this layer with…
The entrainment of air by advancing contact lines is studied by plunging a solid plate into a very viscous liquid. Above a threshold velocity, we observe the formation of an extended air film, typically 10 microns thick, which subsequently…
When the thickness of the layer is smaller than the electrons mean free path, the morphology affects the conductivity directly based on the layer thickness. This issue provides basis in order to estimate the thickness of the layer by…
We study the effect of active galactic nuclei (AGN) heating on the chemodynamical evolution of elliptical galaxies and their X-ray and optical properties using high-resolution Lambda-dominated cold dark matter cosmological simulations. Our…
Mammalian cell polarization and motility are important processes involved in many physiological and pathological phenomena, such as embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. The traditional view of mammalian cell motility…
How thousands of microtubules and molecular motors self-organize into spindles remains poorly understood. By combining static, nanometer-resolution, large-scale electron tomography reconstructions and dynamic, optical-resolution, polarized…