23 pages and 9 figures. Added extensive references to existing theoretical/experimental literature, included stochastic simulation studies and, an exhaustive overhaul of the discussion section providing context and impact of the present work. Accepted for publication in Biophysical Journal
Force fluctuations exhibited in focal adhesions (FAs) that connect a cell to its extracellular environment, point to the complex role of the underlying machinery that controls cell migration. To elucidate the explicit role of myosin motors in the temporal traction force oscillations, we vary the contractility of these motors in a dynamical model based on the molecular clutch hypothesis. As the contractility is lowered, effected both by changing the motor velocity and the rate of attachment/detachment, we show analytically in an experimentally relevant parameter space that the system goes from decaying oscillations to stable limit cycle oscillations through a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. As a function of motor activity and the number of clutches, the system exhibits a wide array of dynamical states. We corroborate our analytical results with stochastic simulations of the motor-clutch system. We obtain limit cycle oscillations in the parameter regime as predicted by our model. The frequency range of oscillations in the average clutch and motor deformation compares well with experimental results.
Microscopic origin of macroscopic contractility in actin-myosin active gel models
Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)（洛桑联邦理工学院（EPFL）生命科学学院生物工程研究所）；SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics（瑞士生物信息学研究所）；Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva（日内瓦大学生物遗传与进化系）；Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Université de Paris Cité（巴黎 Cité 大学物质与复杂系统实验室）；Institut Curie, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR168, Physique des Cellules et Cancer（居里研究所，巴黎文理研究大学，索邦大学，法国国家科学研究中心 UMR168，细胞物理与癌症实验室）；Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Institut Jacques Monod（巴黎 Cité 大学，法国国家科学研究中心，雅克·莫诺研究所）
