Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Load fluctuations drive actin network growth.

Joshua W Shaevitz1, Daniel A Fletcher

  • 1Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. shaevitz@princeton.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|September 27, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Capillary bundling of microtubules by condensates.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

From the Laboratory to the Field: Assessing the Usability of the NTDscope in the Tropical Rainforest Region of Gabon.

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene·2026
Same author

Programmable kinetic barcoding for multiplexed RNA detection with Cas13a.

Nature biomedical engineering·2026
Same author

LUCas: Light-Uncaged Cas13a using photocleavable interfering guide RNAs.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

NTDscope: A multi-contrast portable microscope for disease diagnosis.

PLOS global public health·2026
Same author

From biting to engulfment: curvature-actin coupling controls phagocytosis of soft, deformable targets.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same journal

Chemotactic self-organization captures the dynamics of mammalian hair follicle patterning.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Tomographic imaging of superconducting order using particle-hole interference.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inhibitory potential of autologous neutralizing antibodies sets quantitative limits on the rebound-competent HIV-1 reservoir.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inferring epidemiological parameters under an infectious phylogeography model with visitor dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Analytical modeling for suction cup designs for skin-interfaced wearable devices.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Improving cell-free metabolism through direct integration of artificial respiratory chains.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Cellular movement is driven by actin networks. This study reveals that thermal fluctuations of microspheres, not individual filaments, govern motility via an object-fluctuating Brownian ratchet (BR) mechanism.

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Actin filament networks drive cellular and intracellular motions.
  • A Brownian ratchet (BR) mechanism links actin polymerization to movement.
  • Nucleation-promoting factors organize actin networks for motility.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanism of actin-propelled motion.
  • To determine the role of thermal fluctuations in cellular motility.
  • To test the Brownian ratchet model in actin-based movement.

Main Methods:

  • Three-dimensional laser tracking of actin-propelled microspheres.
  • Analysis of bead velocity in relation to thermal fluctuation and viscosity.
  • Monte Carlo simulations of an adhesion-based BR model.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Microspheres adhered to actin networks move via an object-fluctuating BR.
  • Velocity correlates with thermal fluctuation amplitude and inversely with viscosity.
  • Motion is saltatory with time-correlated step sizes.

Conclusions:

  • Thermal fluctuations of the microsphere or network, not individual filaments, govern motility.
  • An adhesion-based BR model explains the observed motion.
  • Membrane tension likely plays a key role in controlling actin-based cellular protrusions.