Detailed Balance Broken by Catch Bond Kinetics Enables Mechanical-Adaptation in Active Materials

Unlike nearly all engineered materials which contain bonds that weaken under load, biological materials contain "catch" bonds which are reinforced under load. Consequently, materials, such as the cell cytoskeleton, can adapt their mechanical properties in response to their state of internal, non-equilibrium (active) stress. However, how large-scale material properties vary with the distance from equilibrium is unknown, as are the relative roles of active stress and binding kinetics in establishing this distance. Through course-grained molecular dynamics simulations, the effect of breaking of detailed balance by catch bonds on the accumulation and dissipation of energy within a model of the actomyosin cytoskeleton is explored. It is found that the extent to which detailed balance is broken uniquely determines a large-scale fluid-solid transition with characteristic time-reversal symmetries. The transition depends critically on the strength of the catch bond, suggesting that active stress is necessary but insufficient to mount an adaptive mechanical response.