%0 Journal Article
%T Optimality of contraction-driven crawling
%A P. Recho
%A J. -F. Joanny
%A L. Truskinovsky
%J Physics
%D 2014
%I arXiv
%R 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.218101
%X We study a model of cell motility where the condition of optimal trade-off between performance and metabolic cost can be made precise. In this model a steadily crawling fragment is represented by a layer of active gel placed on a frictional surface and driven by contraction only. We find analytically the distribution of contractile elements (pullers) ensuring that the efficiency of self-propulsion is maximal. We then show that natural assumptions about advection and diffusion of pullers produce a distribution that is remarkably close to the optimal one and is qualitatively similar to the one observed in experiments on fish keratocytes.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1402.0673v2