Universal dynamics behaviors of the cytoskeleton / 医用生物力学

ABSTRACT

The cytoskeleton of the adherent cell is probably the most complex soft matter in nature. It is composed of hundreds of different proteins that not only interact with each other but also polymerize into long chains and ultimately form a dense network structure. To understand the dynamics of such a complex structure is obviously a great challenge, requiring the joint efforts of multiple disciplines including but not limited to biology, chemistry, physics and physiology. Recently, some important features of the cytoskeleton dynamics have been revealed. For example, the cytoskeleton is far from thermodynamic equilibrium, markedly prestressed, rheologically scale free, and fluidizes in response to a transient stretch. These dynamics behaviors of the cytoskeleton may play important or even determinant roles in many important cell functions such as adhesion, migration and differentiation, and thus further participate in the pathophysiological processes. In this review, we will briefly introduce these dynamics behaviors, describe the results from corresponding studies, and discuss their important implications.