Actively Contracting Bundles of Polar Filaments

We introduce a phenomenological model to study the properties of bundles of polar filaments which interact via active elements. The stability of the homogeneous state, the attractors of the dynamics in the unstable regime, and the tensile stress generated in the bundle are discussed. We find that the interaction of parallel filaments can induce unstable behavior and is responsible for active contraction and tension in the bundle. The interaction between antiparallel filaments leads to filament sorting. Our model could apply to simple contractile structures in cells such as stress fibers.