Actin-Fascin Bundle Formation Under Pressure

作者：Forciniti Leandro; Wang Ge; Zaman Muhammad H^*

来源：Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, 2009, 2(1): 2-12.

DOI：10.1007/s12195-009-0053-y

• Actin
• Fascin
• Cross-linking
• Flory-Huggins

Studies of the dependence of fascin: actin bundle formation on thermodynamic properties are important for understanding cell processes such as migration and differentiation. We report a novel approach utilizing an expanded equilibrium polymerization Flory-Huggins type model to model fascin: actin bundle formation under thermodynamic pressure. A free energy expression that considers both polymer solution physics and both the deactivation of fascin and propagation of fascin: actin bundles was derived for this system. Using this free energy expression, we report the composition's dependency on pressure while varying: fascin to actin molar ratios [1,3, and 6], initial F-actin concentration [9.52 x 10(-9) - 5.7 x 10(-8) mM], specific volume, and K(deact). Bundle formation was shown to increase as a function of pressure and to be limited by F-actin. Furthermore, our model was able to quantitatively predict an optimal size parameter for the deactivated fascin molecule (s(F) = 4645) and for the deactivation equilibrium constant (K(deact) = 2.66 x 10(8)). These results present a novel approach to study fascin cross-linking of actin bundles and provide avenues for future experiments to develop a more comprehensive understanding of cell-matrix interactions.

• 出版日期2009-3