Directors's Research/Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Mol Syst Biol. 2017 Sep 27;13(9):941. doi: 10.15252/msb.20177796.
Morphogenesis in animal tissues is largely driven by actomyosin networks, through tensions generated by an active contractile process. Although the network components and their properties are known, and networks can be reconstituted the requirements for contractility are still poorly understood. Here, we describe a theory that predicts whether an isotropic network will contract, expand, or conserve its dimensions. This analytical theory correctly predicts the behavior of simulated networks, consisting of filaments with varying combinations of connectors, and reveals conditions under which networks of rigid filaments are either contractile or expansile. Our results suggest that pulsatility is an intrinsic behavior of contractile networks if the filaments are not stable but turn over. The theory offers a unifying framework to think about mechanisms of contractions or expansion. It provides the foundation for studying a broad range of processes involving cytoskeletal networks and a basis for designing synthetic networks.
动物组织中的形态发生在很大程度上是由肌动球蛋白网络驱动的，通过活跃的收缩过程产生的张力。尽管已知网络组件及其特性，并且可以重建网络，但收缩性的要求仍未得到很好的理解。在这里，我们描述了一个理论，该理论可以预测各向同性网络是否会收缩、扩张或保持其尺寸。这个分析理论正确地预测了由具有不同连接器组合的细丝组成的模拟网络的行为，并揭示了刚性细丝网络在何种条件下是收缩性或扩张性的。我们的结果表明，如果细丝不稳定而是不断更新，那么脉动是收缩性网络的固有行为。该理论提供了一个统一的框架来思考收缩或扩张的机制。它为研究涉及细胞骨架网络的广泛过程提供了基础，并为设计合成网络提供了依据。
