Mechanics of bundled semiflexible polymer networks

Abstract

While actin bundles are used by living cells for structural fortification, the microscopic origin of the elasticity of bundled networks is not understood. Here, we show that above a critical concentration of the actin binding protein fascin, a solution of actin filaments organizes into a pure network of bundles. While the elasticity of weakly crosslinked networks is dominated by the affine deformation of tubes, the network of bundles can be fully understood in terms of non-affine bending undulations.

5 pages, 3 figures, final version as published

References in corpus (2)

• Statistical Mechanics of Semiflexible Bundles of Wormlike Polymer Chains
• Stiff Polymers, Foams and Fiber Networks

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Transient Binding and Dissipation in Semi-flexible Polymer Networks
• Nonaffine rubber elasticity for stiff polymer networks
• Micro- and Macrorheological Properties of Isotropically Cross-linked Actin Networks
• Cross-linker unbinding and self-similarity in bundled cytoskeletal networks
• Packing defects and the width of biopolymer bundles
• Stress relaxation through crosslink unbinding in cytoskeletal networks