title: Amplification of actin polymerization forces.
abstract: The actin cytoskeleton drives many essential processes in vivo, using molecular motors and actin assembly as force generators. We discuss here the propagation of forces caused by actin polymerization, highlighting simple configurations where the force developed by the network can exceed the sum of the polymerization forces from all filaments.
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dmitrieff
authors.affiliation: Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nédélec
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D008954:Models, Biological; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D058105:Polymerization; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000378:metabolism; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins