Dynamics in Steady State In Vitro Acto-Myosin Networks

TL;DR

This paper reviews how mechanical signals propagate in actomyosin networks, highlighting two stress transmission pathways and discussing methods to analyze structural features through tracer bead experiments.

Contribution

It provides a detailed overview of stress propagation mechanisms in actomyosin networks and introduces approaches to infer structural properties from experimental data.

Findings

Stress propagates via two pathways: rapid dissipation through the bulk and long-range weak dissipation through pre-stressed actin.

Tracer bead experiments reveal correlated motion patterns indicative of stress transmission pathways.

Structural features of networks can be inferred from stress propagation measurements.

Abstract

It is well known that many biochemical processes in the cell such as gene regulation, growth signals and activation of ion channels, rely on mechanical stimuli. However, the mechanism by which mechanical signals propagate through cells is not as well understood. In this review we focus on stress propagation in a minimal model for cell elasticity, actomyosin networks, which are comprised of a sub-family of cytoskeleton proteins. After giving an overview of th actomyosin network components, structure and evolution we review stress propagation in these materials as measured through the correlated motion of tracer beads. We also discuss the possibility to extract structural features of these networks from the same experiments. We show that stress transmission through these networks has two pathways, a quickly dissipative one through the bulk, and a long ranged weakly dissipative one through the pre-stressed actin network.