Dresden 2009 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Poster I
BP 7.9: Poster
Monday, March 23, 2009, 17:45–20:00, P3
Fast algorithm for determinating the equilibrium configuration of a cable network model describing the actin cytoskeleton — •Karsten Schwarz and Heiko Rieger — Theoretical Physics, Saarland University, D-66041 Saarbrücken
The propagation of mechanical stress through the actin cytoskeleton is studied with a cable network model [1,2]. Cables represent actin filaments connecting two nodes of a network and exerting a specific force F on the two nodes, which depends only on the distance l between them: F(l)=0 for l≤ lr and F(l)=c·(l/lr−1) for l > lr (lr is the rest-length of the cable). Some of the nodes are fixed, representing focal adhesions, the others arranging themselves according to the resulting force balances into an equlibrium configuration. Typical model networks comprise more than 105 nodes making the determination of their equilibrium configuration numerically hard. We map the force balance problem onto a convex optimization problem and present a method to solve this to arbitrary precision in polynomial time. We discuss applications of our method to modelling the migration of adhering cells. [1] Coughlin et al. Biophys.J. 84:1328-1336 (2003) [2] Paul et al. Biophys.J. 94:1470-1482 (2008)