| Texto completo | |
| Autor(es): |
Silveira, Paulo S. P.
[1, 2]
;
Alencar, Adriano M.
[1, 2]
;
Majumdar, Arnab
[3, 4, 5]
;
Lemos, Miriam
[1, 2]
;
Fredberg, Jeffrey J.
[2]
;
Suki, Bela
[5]
Número total de Autores: 6
|
| Afiliação do(s) autor(es): | [1] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Pathol, Sao Paulo - Brazil
[2] Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Environm Hlth, Program Mol Integrat & Physiol Sci MIPS, Boston, MA 02115 - USA
[3] Boston Univ, Dept Phys, Boston, MA 02215 - USA
[4] Boston Univ, Ctr Polymer Studies, Boston, MA 02215 - USA
[5] Boston Univ, Dept Biomed Engn, Boston, MA 02215 - USA
Número total de Afiliações: 5
|
| Tipo de documento: | Artigo Científico |
| Fonte: | PHYSICA A-STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS; v. 388, n. 8, p. 1521-1526, APR 15 2009. |
| Citações Web of Science: | 5 |
| Resumo | |
Cell shape, signaling, and integrity depend on cytoskeletal organization. In this study we describe the cytoskeleton as a simple network of filamentary proteins (links) anchored by complex protein structures (nodes). The structure of this network is regulated by a distance-dependent probability of link formation as P = p/d(s), where p regulates the network density and s controls how fast the probability for link formation decays with node distance (d). It was previously shown that the regulation of the link lengths is crucial for the mechanical behavior of the cells. Here we examined the ability of the two-dimensional network to percolate (i.e. to have end-to-end connectivity), and found that the percolation threshold depends strongly on s. The system undergoes a transition around s = 2. The percolation threshold of networks with s < 2 decreases with increasing system size L, while the percolation threshold for networks with s > 2 converges to a finite value. We speculate that s < 2 may represent a condition in which cells can accommodate deformation while still preserving their mechanical integrity. Additionally, we measured the length distribution of F-actin filaments from publicly available images of a variety of cell types. In agreement with model predictions, cells originating from more deformable tissues show longer F-actin cytoskeletal filaments. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU) | |
| Processo FAPESP: | 07/08165-8 - Investigação da mecânica pulmonar em múltipla escala |
| Beneficiário: | Adriano Mesquita Alencar |
| Modalidade de apoio: | Bolsas no Brasil - Jovens Pesquisadores |