Pattern formation in active cytoskeletal networks

Abstract

We present a one-dimensional model combining two of the main features of active biopolymer solutions that have only recently been investigated experimentally, namely the molecular motor driven active transport of filaments and the (visco-)elastic properties of filament networks held together by crosslinkers or entanglement effects. It is shown that the pattern forming mechanisms, associated with the motor-mediated transport of filaments, are substantially altered when coupled to a filament network: in the case of a permanent network, the long-range clustering of filaments changes either to stationary periodic filament density patterning or to propagating pulses. If the network is however viscoelastic, molecular motor activity can lead to traveling or standing filament density waves.