Mechanosensitive single molecule dynamics of myosin II

Abstract

In this project we have characterised the dynamics of single myosin II molecules in stem cells under mechanical stress combining high spatial and time resolution microscopy with image analysis and simulations. We show that in the bleb, intensity of myosin spots increases as they assemble into bipolar thick filaments. In comparison with the myosin II under the nucleus, in the bleb they undergo a super dffusive motion which could drive the bleb contraction. We have analysed their spatial distribution using DBSCAN clustering analysis and we have performed Cytosim simulations to study the myosin II dynamics in the retraction bleb. This analysis sets the framework and the computational pipeline for further experiments.