Spontaneous Oscillations of Elastic Contractile Materials with Turnover

Kai Dierkes, Angughali Sumi, Jérôme Solon, and Guillaume Salbreux
Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 148102 – Published 1 October 2014
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Abstract

Single and collective cellular oscillations driven by the actomyosin cytoskeleton have been observed in numerous biological systems. Here, we propose that these oscillations can be accounted for by a generic oscillator model of a material turning over and contracting against an elastic element. As an example, we show that during dorsal closure of the Drosophila embryo, experimentally observed changes in actomyosin concentration and oscillatory cell shape changes can, indeed, be captured by the dynamic equations studied here. We also investigate the collective dynamics of an ensemble of such contractile elements and show that the relative contribution of viscous and friction losses yields different regimes of collective oscillations. Taking into account the diffusion of force-producing molecules between contractile elements, our theoretical framework predicts the appearance of traveling waves, resembling the propagation of actomyosin waves observed during morphogenesis.

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  • Received 9 April 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.148102

© 2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Kai Dierkes1,2, Angughali Sumi1,2, Jérôme Solon1,2, and Guillaume Salbreux3

  • 1Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
  • 2Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
  • 3Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Straße 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 113, Iss. 14 — 3 October 2014

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