Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 11: Cytoskeleton

BP 11.5: Talk

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 10:45–11:00, H44

Active Gel Theory for Cell Migration With Two Myosin Species — •Nils Winkler, Oliver M Drozdowski, Falko Ziebert, and Ulrich S Schwarz — Institut für theoretische Physik und Bioquant, 69120 Heidelberg

Motility of animal cells is essential for a wide range of biological phenomena, from the development of embryos to the spread of cancer. It is mainly driven by flow of the actin cytoskeleton, which in turn is generated by both actin polymerization and actomyosin contractility. Non-muscle myosin II is present in three different isoforms, but it is unclear what their respective roles are. Starting from phenomenological binding kinetics that include the competition of the myosin motors for binding sites through excluded volume interactions, we derive an active gel model for cell migration that includes a fast and a slow variant, corresponding to the non-muscle myosin II isoforms A and B, respectively. We find non-linear diffusion laws and predict species gradients that agree with experimental observations. Through numerical continuation and simulations, we identify a pull-and-push mechanism that can produce different system states, including steady migration as well as cell oscillations in length and velocity.

Keywords: Active Gel Theory; Nonlinear dynamics; Bifurcation analysis; Myosin motors