Initiation of cytoskeletal asymmetry for cell polarization and movement

A variety of mathematical models for the actin driven motility of eucaryotic cells have been discussed over the last decades. However, most of them do model polarized cells which are already in motion or at least have established lamellipods. Here we investigate the stimulus induced transition from a symmetric resting state of a cell to a polarized one. Our goal is to find a minimal scenario for this rearrangement of the cytoskeleton and to figure out which of the manifold proteins and processes associated with actin dynamics are essential for the initiation of movement.