Cell Motility: Actin Polymerization and Membrane Dynamics

Ajay Gopinathan School of Natural Sciences
University of California, Merced

Branched actin networks at the leading edge of a crawling cell evolve via protein-regulated processes such as polymerization, depolymerization, capping, branching and severing. I shall discuss how the cell achieves fine-tuned control of both the morphology and dynamics of the cytoskeletal actin network by employing all the above processes in tandem. I shall also discuss how the polymerization activity leads to protrusive forces and how the coupling between mo- tion of the receptors on the cell surface, actin polymerization activity and the dynamics of the membrane leads to distinct dynamical structures that form at the leading edge during motion.