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Asymmetry between pushing and pulling for crawling cells.

Pierre Recho¹, Lev Truskinovsky

¹LMS, CNRS-UMR 7649, Ecole Polytechnique, Route de Saclay, 91128 Palaiseau, France.

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|March 19, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cellular motility involves pushing and pulling forces. This study models active gel to reveal distinct mechanisms for each, showing how cells can switch between pushing and pulling strategies.

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Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Biophysics
Soft Matter Physics

Background:

Eukaryotic cells exhibit complex motility, including self-propulsion, force exertion (pushing), and cargo transport (pulling).
Understanding the inherent asymmetry between active pushing and pulling mechanisms is crucial for cell mechanics.
Acto-myosin networks are fundamental to cellular force generation and motility.

Purpose of the Study:

To model and analyze the distinct mechanisms underlying active pushing and pulling in eukaryotic cell extracts.
To investigate the force-velocity relationships associated with protrusion-dominated and contraction-driven motility.
To explore the cell's ability to adapt its force-generating machinery in response to external forces.

Main Methods:

A one-dimensional active gel model of a crawling acto-myosin cell extract was developed.
The model was subjected to external forces to simulate pushing and pulling scenarios.
Force-velocity relations were analyzed to characterize different motility regimes.

Main Results:

Pushing motility is primarily controlled by protrusion, characterized by a concave force-velocity relation.
Pulling motility involves protrusion at low forces and switches to contraction at higher forces, resulting in a complex convex-concave force-velocity relation.
A competition between protrusion and contraction can lead to negative mobility in biologically relevant conditions, demonstrating active force readjustment.

Conclusions:

The study reveals distinct physical mechanisms governing cellular pushing and pulling.
The model highlights the cell's capacity for active readjustment of its force-generating machinery.
Cells can dynamically switch between complementary active mechanisms (pushing and pulling) as needed.