Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Active Filament Networks

BP 8.11: Talk

Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 12:45–13:00, C 243

Modeling the lamellipodial protrusion in motile cells — •Mihaela Enculescu and Martin Falcke — Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Berlin

A variety of eukaryotic cells has the ability to crawl on a substrate by extending a thin plane cytoskeletal structure, called the lamellipodium. The force that pushes the cell membrane forward emerges from the growth of a cross-linked actin network through polymerization at the leading edge. We model the lamellipodial protrusion by coupling the mechanics of the membrane to the dynamics of the length distribution of the polymer ends, and by computing the entropic forces exerted by single actin filaments on the membrane. Our approach takes into consideration actin polymerization, attachment and detachment of filaments to the membrane and cross-linking of the actin network.