title: Dynamics of actin waves on patterned substrates: a quantitative analysis of circular dorsal ruffles.
abstract: Circular Dorsal Ruffles (CDRs) have been known for decades, but the mechanism that organizes these actin waves remains unclear. In this article we systematically analyze the dynamics of CDRs on fibroblasts with respect to characteristics of current models of actin waves. We studied CDRs on heterogeneously shaped cells and on cells that we forced into disk-like morphology. We show that CDRs exhibit phenomena such as periodic cycles of formation, spiral patterns, and mutual wave annihilations that are in accord with an active medium description of CDRs. On cells of controlled morphologies, CDRs exhibit extremely regular patterns of repeated wave formation and propagation, whereas on random-shaped cells the dynamics seem to be dominated by the limited availability of a reactive species. We show that theoretical models of reaction-diffusion type incorporating conserved species capture partially the behavior we observe in our data.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biophysik, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bernitt
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Cheng Gee
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gov
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biophysik, Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Günther
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Döbereiner
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D022081:Cell Surface Extensions / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008954:Models, Biological; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor