Nonlinear elasticity of stiff biopolymers connected by flexible linkers

Networks of the biopolymer actin, cross-linked by the compliant protein filamin, form soft gels. They can, however, withstand large shear stresses due to their pronounced nonlinear elastic behavior. The nonlinear elasticity can be controlled by varying the number of cross-links per actin filament. W...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Vol. 79; no. 4 Pt 1; p. 041928
Main Authors:	Kasza, K E, Koenderink, G H, Lin, Y C, Broedersz, C P, Messner, W, Nakamura, F, Stossel, T P, MacKintosh, F C, Weitz, D A
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States 01-04-2009
Subjects:	Actins - chemistry Actins - ultrastructure Biopolymers - chemistry Contractile Proteins - chemistry Contractile Proteins - ultrastructure Elasticity Filamins Humans Microfilament Proteins - chemistry Microfilament Proteins - ultrastructure Microscopy, Confocal Microscopy, Electron Models, Biological Nonlinear Dynamics Shear Strength
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Networks of the biopolymer actin, cross-linked by the compliant protein filamin, form soft gels. They can, however, withstand large shear stresses due to their pronounced nonlinear elastic behavior. The nonlinear elasticity can be controlled by varying the number of cross-links per actin filament. We propose and test a model of rigid filaments decorated by multiple flexible linkers that is in quantitative agreement with experiment. This allows us to estimate loads on individual cross-links, which we find to be less than 10 pN.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1539-3755 1550-2376
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevE.79.041928