ArticleMolecular biology of the cell2020
Dynamic actin cross-linking governs the cytoplasm's transition to fluid-like behavior.
Article in Molecular biology of the cell, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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21 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spatially Constrained Monte Carlo Permutation Test Reveals Diffusion Changes Near Stress Granules.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Dynamical networking of polymer networks with dedicated cross-linker particles.The European physical journal. E, Soft matter · 2026Article
- Plectin affects cell viscoelasticity at small and large deformations.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Nuclear destabilisation - a possible genesis of cancer?Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Form and function in biological filaments: a physicist's review.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025Review
- Extracellular Matrix Viscoelasticity: A Dynamic Regulator of Cellular Behavior.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2025Review
- Dynamical networking using Gaussian fields.The European physical journal. E, Soft matter · 2025Article
- Extreme-value analysis in nano-biological systems: applications and implications.Biophysical reviews · 2024Review
- Article
- Viscoelasticity of diverse biological samples quantified by Acoustic Force Microrheology (AFMR).Communications biology · 2024Article
- Liquid-liquid phase separation within fibrillar networks.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Huntingtin S421 phosphorylation increases kinesin and dynein engagement on early endosomes and lysosomes.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- Vast heterogeneity in cytoplasmic diffusion rates revealed by nanorheology and Doppelgänger simulations.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- Tau differentially regulates the transport of early endosomes and lysosomes.Molecular biology of the cell · 2022Article
- Reciprocity of Cell Mechanics with Extracellular Stimuli: Emerging Opportunities for Translational Medicine.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2022Review
- Calcium bursts allow rapid reorganization of EFhD2/Swip-1 cross-linked actin networks in epithelial wound closure.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Interplay between Brownian motion and cross-linking controls bundling dynamics in actin networks.Biophysical journal · 2022Article
- Endocytic proteins with prion-like domains form viscoelastic condensates that enable membrane remodeling.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Simulations of dynamically cross-linked actin networks: Morphology, rheology, and hydrodynamic interactions.PLoS computational biology · 2021Article
- Subtle changes in crosslinking drive diverse anomalous transport characteristics in actin-microtubule networks.Soft matter · 2021Article
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5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
Cells precisely control their mechanical properties to organize and differentiate into tissues. The architecture and connectivity of cytoskeletal filaments change in response to mechanical and biochemical cues, allowing the cell to rapidly tune its mechanics from highly cross-linked, elastic networks to weakly cross-linked viscous networks. While the role of actin cross-linking in controlling actin network mechanics is well-characterized in purified actin networks, its mechanical role in the cytoplasm of living cells remains unknown. Here, we probe the frequency-dependent intracellular viscoelastic properties of living cells using multifrequency excitation and in situ optical trap calibration. At long timescales in the intracellular environment, we observe that the cytoskeleton becomes fluid-like. The mechanics are well-captured by a model in which actin filaments are dynamically connected by a single dominant cross-linker. A disease-causing point mutation (K255E) of the actin cross-linker α-actinin 4 (ACTN4) causes its binding kinetics to be insensitive to tension. Under normal conditions, the viscoelastic properties of wild-type (WT) and K255E+/- cells are similar. However, when tension is reduced through myosin II inhibition, WT cells relax 3× faster to the fluid-like regime while K255E+/- cells are not affected. These results indicate that dynamic actin cross-linking enables the cytoplasm to flow at long timescales.
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