title: Actin dynamics: from nanoscale to microscale.
abstract: The dynamic nature of actin in cells manifests itself constantly. Polymerization near the cell edge is balanced by depolymerization in the interior, externally induced actin polymerization is followed by depolymerization, and spontaneous oscillations of actin at the cell periphery are frequently seen. I discuss how mathematical modeling relates quantitative measures of actin dynamics to the rates of underlying molecular level processes. The dynamic properties addressed include the rate of actin assembly at the leading edge of a moving cell, the disassembly rates of intracellular actin networks, the polymerization time course in externally stimulated cells, and spontaneous spatiotemporal patterns formed by actin. Although several aspects of actin assembly have been clarified by increasingly sophisticated models, our understanding of rapid actin disassembly is limited, and the origins of nonmonotonic features in externally stimulated actin polymerization remain unclear. Theory has generated several concrete, testable hypotheses for the origins of spontaneous actin waves and cell-edge oscillations. The development and use of more biomimetic systems applicable to the geometry of a cell will be key to obtaining a quantitative understanding of actin dynamics in cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA. aec@wustl.edu
authors.forename: Anders E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Carlsson
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002465:Cell Movement; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D055503:Protein Multimerization
chemical_list: D000199:Actins
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 2004 Aug 30;166(5):629-35
references.pmid: 15337772
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2001 Dec 11;11(24):1903-13
references.pmid: 11747816
references.citation: Biophys J. 2008 Aug;95(3):1050-62
references.pmid: 18390612
references.citation: Annu Rev Biophys Biomol Struct. 2006;35:361-87
references.pmid: 16689641
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jul 21;97(3):038102
references.pmid: 16907546
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Feb 15;90(4):1439-52
references.pmid: 16326902
references.citation: Exp Cell Res. 2002 Apr 15;275(1):54-66
references.pmid: 11925105
references.citation: Nat Phys. 2008 Aug 31;4:789-793
references.pmid: 19746192
references.citation: Biophys J. 2005 Aug;89(2):782-95
references.pmid: 15879474
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Jun 14;102(24):8543-8
references.pmid: 15939882
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jul 24;103(4):048102
references.pmid: 19659403
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 1997 Mar 24;136(6):1307-22
references.pmid: 9087445
references.citation: PLoS Biol. 2007 Sep;5(9):e221
references.pmid: 17696648
references.citation: Biophys J. 2008 Aug;95(3):1393-411
references.pmid: 18390606
references.citation: Biophys J. 2003 Mar;84(3):1591-605
references.pmid: 12609863
references.citation: Biophys J. 2005 Feb;88(2):1387-402
references.pmid: 15556992
references.citation: Biophys J. 2009 Sep 2;97(5):1295-304
references.pmid: 19720017
references.citation: Mol Cell. 2009 May 15;34(3):364-74
references.pmid: 19450534
references.citation: Annu Rev Biophys Biomol Struct. 2000;29:545-76
references.pmid: 10940259
references.citation: Nat Cell Biol. 2002 Sep;4(9):666-73
references.pmid: 12198494
references.citation: Biophys J. 2002 Sep;83(3):1237-58
references.pmid: 12202352
references.citation: Biophys J. 2005 Aug;89(2):1411-9
references.pmid: 15923234
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2000 Dec 14-28;10(24):R891-5
references.pmid: 11137023
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Jan 1;90(1):65-76
references.pmid: 16214866
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 2008 Jul 28;182(2):341-53
references.pmid: 18663144
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 1986 Dec;103(6 Pt 2):2747-54
references.pmid: 3793756
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 1998 Dec 28;143(7):1919-30
references.pmid: 9864364
references.citation: PLoS Biol. 2009 Sep;7(9):e1000201
references.pmid: 19771152
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Apr 20;98(16):168103
references.pmid: 17501468
references.citation: PLoS One. 2008 Sep 29;3(9):e3297
references.pmid: 18820726
references.citation: Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2006 Nov;21(3):209-222
references.pmid: 17186161
references.citation: Biophys J. 2009 Jun 17;96(12):5130-8
references.pmid: 19527673
references.citation: Cell. 2003 Feb 21;112(4):453-65
references.pmid: 12600310
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Mar 1;90(5):1810-20
references.pmid: 16326894
references.citation: Phys Biol. 2006 Jun 21;3(2):130-7
references.pmid: 16829699
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2004 Jan 6;14(1):1-10
references.pmid: 14711408
references.citation: Biophys J. 2001 Oct;81(4):1907-23
references.pmid: 11566765
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Nov 30;99(22):228104
references.pmid: 18233333
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jul 14;106(28):11570-5
references.pmid: 19556544
references.citation: J Biol Chem. 1984 May 25;259(10):6274-83
references.pmid: 6539330
references.citation: Biophys J. 2009 Apr 8;96(7):2888-900
references.pmid: 19348770
references.citation: Nature. 2009 Jan 22;457(7228):389-90
references.pmid: 19158779
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 1999 May 31;145(5):1009-26
references.pmid: 10352018
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Apr 15;90(8):2673-85
references.pmid: 16443647
references.citation: J Math Biol. 2009 Jan;58(1-2):105-34
references.pmid: 18461331
references.citation: Science. 2004 Sep 17;305(5691):1782-6
references.pmid: 15375270
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2004 Apr 20;14(8):697-703
references.pmid: 15084285
references.citation: Biophys J. 2005 Nov;89(5):3456-69
references.pmid: 16100274
references.citation: Toxicon. 2001 Feb-Mar;39(2-3):303-8
references.pmid: 10978748
references.citation: HFSP J. 2009 Jun;3(3):194-203
references.pmid: 19639041
references.citation: J Biomech. 2009 Nov 13;42(15):2540-8
references.pmid: 19665125
references.citation: Mol Biol Cell. 2004 Dec;15(12):5647-58
references.pmid: 15456901
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Jan 15;90(2):413-22
references.pmid: 16258044
references.citation: Mol Cell. 2008 Nov 7;32(3):426-38
references.pmid: 18995840
references.citation: J Cell Sci. 1998 Jan;111 ( Pt 2):199-211
references.pmid: 9405304
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2009 May 15;102(19):198103
references.pmid: 19519000
references.citation: Biophys J. 1998 Oct;75(4):2070-8
references.pmid: 9746549
references.citation: Mol Biol Cell. 2003 Dec;14(12):5028-37
references.pmid: 14595116
references.citation: J Cell Biol. 1992 Oct;119(2):367-77
references.pmid: 1400580
references.citation: Biophys J. 2004 Feb;86(2):1074-81
references.pmid: 14747342
references.citation: J Muscle Res Cell Motil. 1983 Apr;4(2):253-62
references.pmid: 6863518
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 May 24;102(21):7601-6
references.pmid: 15894626
references.citation: Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2006 Feb;18(1):32-9
references.pmid: 16318917
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Jul 17;104(29):11933-8
references.pmid: 17606906
references.citation: Cell. 2004 Feb 6;116(3):431-43
references.pmid: 15016377
references.citation: Biophys J. 2004 Nov;87(5):3493-503
references.pmid: 15347592
references.citation: Methods Enzymol. 1991;196:486-96
references.pmid: 1851942
references.citation: Nature. 1991 Jul 11;352(6331):126-31
references.pmid: 2067574
references.citation: Methods Cell Biol. 2008;84:911-37
references.pmid: 17964954
references.citation: Biochemistry. 1999 Mar 2;38(9):2769-78
references.pmid: 10052948
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Oct 28;105(43):16531-6
references.pmid: 18931306
references.citation: Mol Biol Cell. 2005 Mar;16(3):1223-31
references.pmid: 15635099
references.citation: Biophys J. 2002 Feb;82(2):605-17
references.pmid: 11806905
references.citation: Science. 2004 Apr 30;304(5671):743-6
references.pmid: 15118165
references.citation: Science. 2006 Oct 20;314(5798):464-7
references.pmid: 17053146
references.citation: Nat Rev Cancer. 2007 Jun;7(6):429-40
references.pmid: 17522712
references.citation: Biophys J. 2008 Nov 15;95(10):4529-39
references.pmid: 18708451
references.citation: Biophys J. 2008 Dec 15;95(12):5508-23
references.pmid: 18708450
references.citation: Mol Cell. 2006 Feb 17;21(4):455-66
references.pmid: 16483928
references.citation: Science. 2002 Feb 8;295(5557):1083-6
references.pmid: 11834838
references.citation: Nat Cell Biol. 2007 Mar;9(3):276-86
references.pmid: 17293856
references.citation: FEBS Lett. 2002 Jan 2;510(1-2):5-9
references.pmid: 11755520
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Apr 20;101(16):5992-7
references.pmid: 15079054