ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2013
Actin polymerization or myosin contraction: two ways to build up cortical tension for symmetry breaking.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed.
- How Actin Polymerization and Myosin II Activity Regulate Focal Adhesion Dynamics in Motile Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Actin-dependent α-catenin oligomerization contributes to adherens junction assembly.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- Benefits and challenges of reconstituting the actin cortex.Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Review
- Mechanical power is maximized during contractile ring-like formation in a biomimetic dividing cell model.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Synthetic control of actin polymerization and symmetry breaking in active protocells.Science advances · 2024Article
- Characterization of early and late events of adherens junction assembly.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Paxillin participates in the sphingosylphosphorylcholine-induced abnormal contraction of vascular smooth muscle by regulating Rho-kinase activation.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2024Article
- Comparison of thermal and athermal dynamics of the cell membrane slope fluctuations in the presence and absence of Latrunculin-B.Physical biology · 2023Article
- Membrane tension induces F-actin reorganization and flow in a biomimetic model cortex.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Methods to mechanically perturb and characterize GUV-based minimal cell models.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2023Review
- F-actin architecture determines constraints on myosin thick filament motion.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Spatiotemporal control of actomyosin contractility by MRCKβ signaling drives phagocytosis.The Journal of cell biology · 2022Article
- Studying actin-induced cell shape changes using Giant Unilamellar Vesicles and reconstituted actin networks.Biochemical Society transactions · 2022Review
- Flagella-like beating of actin bundles driven by self-organized myosin waves.Nature physics · 2022Article
- Article
- Fascin-induced actin protrusions are suppressed by dendritic networks in giant unilamellar vesicles.Molecular biology of the cell · 2021Article
- Reconstitution of contractile actomyosin rings in vesicles.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Capping protein is dispensable for polarized actin network growth and actin-based motility.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2020Article
- Actin modulates shape and mechanics of tubular membranes.Science advances · 2020Article
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8 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cells use complex biochemical pathways to drive shape changes for polarization and movement. One of these pathways is the self-assembly of actin filaments and myosin motors that together produce the forces and tensions that drive cell shape changes. Whereas the role of actin and myosin motors in cell polarization is clear, the exact mechanism of how the cortex, a thin shell of actin that is underneath the plasma membrane, can drive cell shape changes is still an open question. Here, we address this issue using biomimetic systems: the actin cortex is reconstituted on liposome membranes, in an 'outside geometry'. The actin shell is either grown from an activator of actin polymerization immobilized at the membrane by a biotin-streptavidin link, or built by simple adsorption of biotinylated actin filaments to the membrane, in the presence or absence of myosin motors. We show that tension in the actin network can be induced either by active actin polymerization on the membrane via the Arp2/3 complex or by myosin II filament pulling activity. Symmetry breaking and spontaneous polarization occur above a critical tension that opens up a crack in the actin shell. We show that this critical tension is reached by growing branched networks, nucleated by the Arp2/3 complex, in a concentration window of capping protein that limits actin filament growth and by a sufficient number of motors that pull on actin filaments. Our study provides the groundwork to understanding the physical mechanisms at work during polarization prior to cell shape modifications.
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