Actin cross-linkers and the shape of stereocilia |
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Authors: | Lenz Martin Prost Jacques Joanny Jean-François |
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Institution: | † Institut Curie, Centre de Recherche, Laboratoire Physico-Chimie Curie, Paris, France ‡ Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 168, Paris, France § Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, UMR 168, Paris, France ¶ École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles—ParisTech, Paris, France |
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Abstract: | Stereocilia are actin-based cellular protrusions essential for hearing. We propose that they are shaped by the detachment dynamics of actin cross-linkers, in particular espin. We account for experimentally observed stereocilium shapes, treadmilling velocity to length relationship, espin 1 localization profile, and microvillus length to espin level relationship. If the cross-linkers are allowed to reattach, our model yields a dynamical phase transition toward unbounded growth. Considering the simplified case of a noninteracting, one-filament system, we calculate the length probability distribution in the growing phase and its stationary form in a continuum approximation of the finite-length phase. Numerical simulations of interacting filaments suggest an anomalous power-law divergence of the protrusion length at the growth transition, which could be a universal feature of cross-linked depolymerizing systems. |
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