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Quantification of Filamentous Actin F-actin Puncta in Rat Cortical Neurons

Quantification of Filamentous Actin F-actin Puncta in Rat Cortical Neurons

Published on: February 10, 2016

Mechanical hysteresis in actin networks.

Sayantan Majumdar¹, Louis C Foucard, Alex J Levine

¹James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. gardel@uchicago.edu.

|February 27, 2018

Summary

Cross-linked F-actin networks exhibit long-lived mechanical hysteresis, adapting their response to past shear stress. This adaptation, driven by filament reorientation, can be simply erased by reversing the applied force.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Biophysics
Cell Biology

Background:

Understanding how complex materials respond to external forces is crucial in materials science and biology.
F-actin networks are ubiquitous in eukaryotic cells and play vital roles in cellular mechanics.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the novel mechanical adaptation in cross-linked F-actin networks.
To characterize the long-term effects of shear stress on the nonlinear mechanical response of F-actin networks.

Main Methods:

Applying controlled shear stress to F-actin networks.
Measuring the nonlinear mechanical response after stress removal.
Analyzing stress-dependent changes in filament orientation and nematic order.

Main Results:

Shear stress induces a long-lived mechanical hysteresis in F-actin networks, altering their nonlinear response.
The history of applied force (duration, magnitude, direction) influences the adaptation.
This hysteresis can be erased by applying force in the opposite direction.
Mechanical adaptation correlates with stress-induced changes in filament nematic order.

Conclusions:

F-actin networks exhibit analog read-write mechanical hysteretic properties.
This adaptation mechanism arises from stress-induced changes in filament orientation.
These findings offer insights into how cells adapt to mechanical stimuli.