%0 Journal Article
%T New Proposed Mechanism of Actin-Polymerization-Driven Motility
%A Kun-Chun Lee
%A Andrea J. Liu
%J Quantitative Biology
%D 2008
%I arXiv
%R 10.1529/biophysj.108.134783
%X We present the first numerical simulation of actin-driven propulsion by elastic filaments. Specifically, we use a Brownian dynamics formulation of the dendritic nucleation model of actin-driven propulsion. We show that the model leads to a self-assembled network that exerts forces on a disk and pushes it with an average speed. This simulation approach is the first to observe a speed that varies non-monotonically with the concentration of branching proteins (Arp2/3), capping protein and depolymerization rate (ADF), in accord with experimental observations. Our results suggest a new interpretation of the origin of motility that can be tested readily by experiment.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.0856v2