Doubrovinski K, Kruse K
Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2010 Jan;31(1):95-104. doi: 10.1140/epje/i2010-10548-8. Epub 2010 Jan 20.
The cytoskeleton is an important substructure of living cells, playing essential roles in cell division, cell locomotion, and the internal organization of subcellular components. Physically, the cytoskeleton is an active polar gel, that is, a system of polar filamentous polymers, which is intrinsically out of thermodynamic equilibrium. Active processes are notably involved in filament growth and can lead to net filament assembly at one end and disassembly at the other, a phenomenon called treadmilling. Here, we develop a framework for describing collective effects in systems of treadmilling filaments in the presence of agents regulating filament assembly. We find that such systems can self-organize into asters and moving filament blobs. We discuss possible implications of our findings for subcellular processes.
细胞骨架是活细胞的重要亚结构，在细胞分裂、细胞运动以及亚细胞组分的内部组织中发挥着至关重要的作用。从物理角度来看，细胞骨架是一种活性极性凝胶，也就是说，它是一个由极性丝状聚合物组成的系统，本质上处于热力学非平衡状态。活性过程尤其涉及细丝生长，并可导致细丝在一端进行净组装而在另一端进行拆卸，这种现象称为踏车行为。在此，我们开发了一个框架，用于描述在存在调节细丝组装的因子的情况下，踏车细丝系统中的集体效应。我们发现，这样的系统可以自组织成星状体和移动的细丝团块。我们讨论了我们的发现对亚细胞过程可能产生的影响。
