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A Microscopic Model for the Dynamics of Actin Filaments in Motility Assays and its Numerical Simulation

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Polymer and Cell Dynamics

Part of the book series: Mathematics and Biosciences in Interaction ((MBI))

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Summary

We investigate a microscopic model of motility assays in which actin filaments move over a layer of myosin heads attached to a glass plate. The actin filaments are regarded as unstretchable semi-flexible polymer chains, and we use a standard method to numerically solve their equations of motion. The results of our computer simulations are in good agreement with those of the experiments, indicating that possibly this model can be used to predict behavior under modified conditions or determine some of the parameters that cannot be measured directly by finding the best fit to the experimentally observed quantities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Biological Physics, Eötvös University, Pázmány P. stny 1A, H-1117, Budapest, Hungary

    Zénó Farkas, Imre Derényi & Tamás Vicsek

Authors
  1. Zénó Farkas
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  2. Imre Derényi
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  3. Tamás Vicsek
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abteilung Theoretische Biologie Botanisches Institut, Universität Bonn, Kirschallee 1, D-53115, Bonn, Germany

    Wolfgang Alt

  2. Department of Mathematics, University of Dundee, 23 Perth Road, Dundee, DDI 4HN, UK

    Mark Chaplain

  3. Institut für Angewandte Mathematik (IAM) Abteilung Wissenschaftliches Rechnen und Numerische Simulation, Universität Bonn, Wegeier Str. 6, D-53115, Bonn, Germany

    Michael Griebel

  4. Bioreact GmbH, Botanisches Institut, Kirschallee 1, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Jürgen Lenz

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© 2003 Springer Basel AG

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Farkas, Z., Derényi, I., Vicsek, T. (2003). A Microscopic Model for the Dynamics of Actin Filaments in Motility Assays and its Numerical Simulation. In: Alt, W., Chaplain, M., Griebel, M., Lenz, J. (eds) Polymer and Cell Dynamics. Mathematics and Biosciences in Interaction. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8043-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8043-5_7

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-9417-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-8043-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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