Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 25: Posters: Cytoskeleton
BP 25.3: Poster
Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 17:30–19:30, Poster C
A mechanism of stress generation in contractile rings — •Anne Wald1, Viktoria Wollrab2, Daniel Riveline2, and Karsten Kruse1 — 1Universität des Saarlandes, Theoretische Physik, Postfach 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken — 2Laboratory of Cell Physics, ISIS/IGBMC, Université de Strasbourg and CNRS (UMR 7006), 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67083 Strasbourg, France and Development and Stem Cells Program, IGBMC, CNRS (UMR 7104), INSERM (U964), Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue Laurent Fries, BP10142, 67400 Illkirch, France
Cytokinesis is the final step of cell division during which the mother cell is split into her daughters. In many cell types, this process is driven by the contraction of a ring composed of actin filaments and myosin motors. How the interaction between motor molecules and filaments generates the stress necessary for contraction is still poorly understood. We study a possible mechanism based on the existence of bipolar fila- ment structures. These structures emerge, for example, when filaments grow into opposite directions from a common nucleator as has been suggested for actin filaments in fission yeast. We study the dynam- ics of dynamic polar filaments in the presence of molecular motors by using a continuum mean-field description. We calculate the stress generated by a homogenous ring in steady state and investigate the stability of this structure against perturbations. Notably, we find that filament assembly can heal defects that might otherwise lead to ring rupture.