title: Spontaneous oscillations of elastic contractile materials with turnover.
abstract: Single and collective cellular oscillations driven by the actomyosin cytoskeleton have been observed in numerous biological systems. Here, we propose that these oscillations can be accounted for by a generic oscillator model of a material turning over and contracting against an elastic element. As an example, we show that during dorsal closure of the Drosophila embryo, experimentally observed changes in actomyosin concentration and oscillatory cell shape changes can, indeed, be captured by the dynamic equations studied here. We also investigate the collective dynamics of an ensemble of such contractile elements and show that the relative contribution of viscous and friction losses yields different regimes of collective oscillations. Taking into account the diffusion of force-producing molecules between contractile elements, our theoretical framework predicts the appearance of traveling waves, resembling the propagation of actomyosin waves observed during morphogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dierkes
authors.affiliation: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Angughali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sumi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Solon
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Straße 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salbreux
mesh_terms: D000205:Actomyosin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000502:physiology; D004330:Drosophila; D004548:Elasticity; D008954:Models, Biological; D009218:Myosins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000205:Actomyosin; D009218:Myosins