F-actins are semi-flexible polyelectrolytes and can be assembled into large polymer-actin complex with polymorphism through electrostatic interaction with polycations. This study investigates the structural phase beha...F-actins are semi-flexible polyelectrolytes and can be assembled into large polymer-actin complex with polymorphism through electrostatic interaction with polycations. This study investigates the structural phase behavior and the growth of polymer-actin complexes in terms of its longitudinal and lateral sizes. Our results show that formation of polymer-actin complexes is cooperative, and morphology and growth of polymer-actin complexes depend on polycation species and concentrations of polycation and salt in a constant actin concentration. We found that the longitudinal growth and lateral growth of polymer-actin complexes are dominated by different factors. This induces the structural polymorphism of polymer-actin complexes. Major factors to influence the polymorphism of polymer-actin complexes in polyelectrolytc system have been discussed. Our results indicate that the semi-flexible polyelectrolyte nature of F-actins is important for controlling the morphology and growth ofactin architectures in cell.展开更多
基金This research is financially supported by SORST, JST and the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture, Japan (Grant-in-Aid of Creative Scientific Research).
文摘F-actins are semi-flexible polyelectrolytes and can be assembled into large polymer-actin complex with polymorphism through electrostatic interaction with polycations. This study investigates the structural phase behavior and the growth of polymer-actin complexes in terms of its longitudinal and lateral sizes. Our results show that formation of polymer-actin complexes is cooperative, and morphology and growth of polymer-actin complexes depend on polycation species and concentrations of polycation and salt in a constant actin concentration. We found that the longitudinal growth and lateral growth of polymer-actin complexes are dominated by different factors. This induces the structural polymorphism of polymer-actin complexes. Major factors to influence the polymorphism of polymer-actin complexes in polyelectrolytc system have been discussed. Our results indicate that the semi-flexible polyelectrolyte nature of F-actins is important for controlling the morphology and growth ofactin architectures in cell.
