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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 24: Cell Mechanics (in vivo)

BP 24.3: Talk

Thursday, March 29, 2007, 10:30–10:45, H44

Modelling the spatially inhomogeneous contraction of stress fibers — •Achim Besser and Ulrich Schwarz — University of Heidelberg, INF 293, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

The contractile activity of cells is often associated with stress fibers, which are contractile bundles of actin filaments crosslinked by α-actinin and the motor protein myosin II. At their ends, they are attached to the extracellular environment through cell-matrix contacts called focal adhesions. Upon contraction, elastic deformations along the fibers have been observed experimentally to be inhomogeneous. We suggest that these spatial differences arise from biochemical signals originating from the focal adhesions. Stress fibers are modeled as a periodic arrangement of springs, dashpots and contractile elements. Contractile activity is coupled to the diffusible biochemical signal. We solve our model in a continuum approximation and show that it results in the experimentally observed deformation pattern.