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Physik - Open Access LMU - Teil 01/02 Podcast
Mechanics of bundled semiflexible polymer networks

Mechanics of bundled semiflexible polymer networks

Physik - Open Access LMU - Teil 01/02 vor 19 Jahren

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While actin bundles are used by living cells for structural
fortification, the microscopic origin of the elasticity of bundled
networks is not understood. Here, we show that above a critical
concentration of the actin binding protein fascin, a solution of
actin filaments organizes into a pure network of bundles. While the
elasticity of weakly cross-linked networks is dominated by the
affine deformation of tubes, the network of bundles can be fully
understood in terms of nonaffine bending undulations.