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- Kimberly L. Weirich
- James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
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- Shiladitya Banerjee
- James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
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- Kinjal Dasbiswas
- James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
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- Thomas A. Witten
- James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
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- Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan
- James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
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- Margaret L. Gardel
- James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637;
説明
<jats:title>Significance</jats:title><jats:p>The interior of biological cells is composed of soft, macromolecular-based materials. The semiflexible biopolymer actin cross-links into networks and bundles with diverse architectures to form the actin cytoskeleton. Actin networks have been traditionally thought to be viscoelastic gels, whose rigidity controls cell morphogenesis. Here we demonstrate that cross-linked actin filaments also form liquid droplets. Because these liquids are composed of rod-like polymers, they form anisotropic liquid droplets with a spindle-like shape, whose morphology can be controlled by cross-link concentration. Actin-based liquid bundles also display shape instabilities characteristic of fluids. These shape dynamics reveal a mechanism to control subcellular compartmentalization and dynamics, with implications for mitotic spindle shape and molecular motor-independent contractility.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114 (9), 2131-2136, 2017-02-15
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
