Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Poster Session Ia

BP 8.42: Poster

Monday, March 18, 2024, 18:00–20:30, Poster C

Modelling the impact of myosin IIA/IIB isoforms on cell migration — •Nils Winkler, Oliver M. Drozdowski, Falko Ziebert, and Ulrich S. Schwarz — Institute for Theoretical Physics and BioQuant, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

Cell motility is one of the hallmarks of life. In mammalian cells, it is based on flow in the actin cytoskeleton, which in turn is driven by both actin polymerization and non-muscle myosin II motors. However, it is unclear how the different isoforms of this motor contribute to cell polarization and migration. Here we propose a one-dimensional active gel model with different myosin species to elucidate the role of non-muscle myosin IIA and IIB. Building on an established coarse-graining procedure [1], we start from binding kinetics and derive a model which can qualitatively explain experimentally found isoform concentration distributions. The model incorporates volume exclusion and cross-diffusion effects caused by the binding properties. Through numerical analysis we explore different migratory modes and the possibility of oscillatory motion driven by concentration differences both in length and velocity.

[1]: Drozdowski, Ziebert and Schwarz, Comms. Phys. 6, 158 (2023)

Keywords: cell migration; active gel theory; myosin isoforms; bifurcation analysis