Despite their overwhelming complexity, living cells display a high degree of internal
mechanical and functional organization which can largely be attributed to the intracellular …

A molecular motor is made of either a single macromolecule or a macromolecular complex.
Just like their macroscopic counterparts, molecular motors “transduce” input energy into …

This short review presents a qualitative introduction to the hydrodynamic theory of active
polar gels and its applications to the mechanics of the cytoskeleton. Active polar gels are …

In active matter systems, deformable boundaries provide a mechanism to organize internal
active stresses. To study a minimal model of such a system, we perform particle-based …

Actin turnover is the central driving force underlying lamellipodial motility. The molecular
components involved are largely known, and their properties have been studied extensively …

The dynamic nature of actin in cells manifests itself constantly. Polymerization near the cell
edge is balanced by depolymerization in the interior, externally induced actin polymerization …

A growth cone is a motile structure at the tips of axons that is driven by the actin network and
guides axon extension. Low actin adhesion to the substrate creates a stationary actin …

Many animal cells initiate crawling by protruding lamellipodia, consisting of a dense network
of actin filaments, at their leading edge. We imaged XTC cells that exhibit flat lamellipodia on …

Actin network in the front part of a moving cell is organized into a lamellipodium and a
lamellum. A distinct lamellipodium-lamellum interface is associated with focal adhesions …

Many cells crawl by extending an actin-rich pseudopod. We have devised a simulation that
describes how the polymerization kinetics of a branched actin filament network, coupled with …