A model to study mechanical and equilibrium properties of biopolymeric networks through a statistical approach

Abstract

Mechanical properties of cells are dominated by the cytoskeleton, an interconnected network of long elastic filaments. The connections between these filaments are provided by a very important mechanical element of the network: cross-linking proteins, which, due to their dynamic nature, allow remodeling in response to external cues. The reversible nature of crosslink bind- ing/unbinding is an important mechanism that underlies these dynamical processes. Here, we develop a simple theoretical model to come close to what recent studies aim to do: study the dynamics of these molecular motors introducing some exible conditions into the considered network, a first approach in this field.