Crosslinking proteins modulate the self-organization of driven systems

Abstract

The inherent activity of the cellular cytoskeleton is responsible for its unique properties – but at the same time impedes its thorough understanding. It is extremely challenging to predict to what extent the specific properties of its constituents affect the overall dynamic properties. By using high density motility assays, we show that the interplay of only three components – molecular motors, filamentous actin and crosslinking proteins – is sufficient for an extremely broad range of self-organization phenomena. They range from the assembly of large-scale polar structures to contracting networks and crucially depend on the specific properties of the crosslinking proteins.