title: Nonlinear dynamics of cell orientation.
abstract: The nonlinear dependence of cellular orientation on an external, time-varying stress field determines the distribution of orientations in the presence of noise and the characteristic time, tauc, for the cell to reach its steady-state orientation. The short, local cytoskeletal relaxation time distinguishes between high-frequency (nearly perpendicular) and low-frequency (random or parallel) orientations. However, tauc is determined by the much longer, orientational relaxation time. This behavior is related to experiments for which we predict the angle and characteristic time as a function of frequency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Safran
authors.forename: Rumi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De
mesh_terms: D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics