Length Regulation Drives Self-Organization in Filament-Motor Mixtures

Striebel, Moritz; Brauns, Fridtjof and Frey, Erwin (2022): Length Regulation Drives Self-Organization in Filament-Motor Mixtures. In: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 129, No. 23

Abstract

Cytoskeletal networks form complex intracellular structures. Here we investigate a minimal model for filament-motor mixtures in which motors act as depolymerases and thereby regulate filament length. Combining agent-based simulations and hydrodynamic equations, we show that resource-limited length regulation drives the formation of filament clusters despite the absence of mechanical interactions between filaments. Even though the orientation of individual remains fixed, collective filament orientation emerges in the clusters, aligned orthogonal to their interfaces.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Physics
• Subjects: 500 Science > 530 Physics
• ISSN: 0031-9007
• Language: English
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 491502892