Polarity Patterns of Stress Fibers

N. Yoshinaga, J.-F. Joanny, J. Prost, and P. Marcq
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 238103 – Published 2 December 2010

Abstract

Stress fibers are contractile actomyosin bundles commonly observed in the cytoskeleton of metazoan cells. The spatial profile of the polarity of actin filaments inside contractile actomyosin bundles is either monotonic (graded) or periodic (alternating). In the framework of linear irreversible thermodynamics, we write the constitutive equations for a polar, active, elastic one-dimensional medium. An analysis of the resulting equations for the dynamics of polarity shows that the transition from graded to alternating polarity patterns is a nonequilibrium Lifshitz point. Active contractility is a necessary condition for the emergence of sarcomeric, alternating polarity patterns.

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  • Received 16 March 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.238103

© 2010 The American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

N. Yoshinaga*, J.-F. Joanny, J. Prost, and P. Marcq

  • Physico-Chimie Curie, Institut Curie, CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 26 rue dUlm, F-75248 Paris Cedex 05, France

  • *Present address: Fukui Institute for Fundamental Chemistry, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8103, Japan.
  • Present address: E.S.P.C.I., 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France.
  • philippe.marcq@curie.fr

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Vol. 105, Iss. 23 — 3 December 2010

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