title: Evolution of growth modes for polyelectrolyte bundles.
abstract: Multivalent ions induce attractions between polyelectrolytes, but lead to finite-sized bundles rather than macroscopic phase separation. The kinetics of aggregation and bundle formation of actin is tracked using two different fluorescently labeled populations of F-actin. It is found that the growth mode of these bundles evolves with time and salt concentration, varying from an initial lateral growth to a longitudinal one at later stages. The results suggest that kinetics play a role in bundle growth, but not in the lateral size of bundles, which is constant for linear and branched topologies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Ghee Hwee
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coridan
authors.forename: Olena V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Zribi
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Golestanian
authors.forename: Gerard C L
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000737:chemistry*; D002413:Cations, Divalent / Q000737:chemistry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008274:Magnesium / Q000737:chemistry*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D008274:Magnesium