2017/12/08 by Thomas Le Goff, Goff, Thomas Le, Benno Liebchen +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #Cell Behavior (q-bio.CB) #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Micro and Nano Robotics #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1712.03138
openalex publication_date 2017/12/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
While cell crawling on a solid surface is relatively well understood, and relies on substrate adhesion, some cells can also swim in the bulk, through mechanisms that are still largely unclear. Here, we propose a minimal model for in-bulk self-motility of a droplet containing an isotropic and compressible contractile gel, representing a cell extract containing a disordered actomyosin network. In our model, contraction mediates a feedback loop between myosin-induced flow and advection-induced myosin accumulation, which leads to clustering and a locally enhanced flow. Interactions of the emerging clusters with the droplet membrane break flow symmetry and set the whole droplet into motion. Depending mainly on the balance between contraction and diffusion, this motion can be either straight or circular. Our simulations and analytical results provide a framework allowing to study in-bulk myosin-driven cell motility in living cells and to design synthetic motile active matter droplets.