title: Dynamics of prestressed semiflexible polymer chains as a model of cell rheology.
abstract: We report on a model of a prestressed nonlinear semiflexible polymer chain that links thermally driven dynamics to the creep behavior of living cells. Numerical simulations show that the chain's creep follows a power law with an exponent that decreases with increasing prestress. This is related to the propagation of free energy through the chain in response to stretching, where the propagation speed is regulated by the prestress via the chain's nonlinear elasticity. These results indicate that the main aspects of cell rheology are consistent with the dynamics of single polymer chains under tension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Noah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
authors.forename: Adriano M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Alencar
authors.forename: Arnab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Majumdar
authors.forename: Béla
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Suki
authors.forename: Dimitrije
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stamenović
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D011108:Polymers