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Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published October 28, 2005. doi:10.1529/biophysj.105.069765
© 2005 by the Biophysical Society.

A more recent version of this article appeared on January 15, 2006.
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BIOPHYSICAL THEORY AND MODELING

Stimulation of Actin Polymerization by Filament Severing

Anders Einar Carlsson 1*

1 Washington University in St. Louis

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: aec{at}wustl.edu.

Submitted on July 5, 2005
Revised on September 23, 2005
Accepted on 5 October 2005


  Abstract
The extent and dynamics of actin polymerization in solution are calculated as functions of the filament severing rate, using a simple model of in vitro polymerization. The model is solved by both analytic theory and stochastic-growth simulation. The results show that severing essentially always enhances actin polymerization by freeing up barbed ends, if barbed-end cappers are present. Severing has much weaker effects if only pointed-end cappers are present. In the early stages of polymerization, the polymerized-actin concentration grows exponentially as a function of time. The exponential growth rate is given in terms of the severing rate, and the latter is given in terms of the maximum slope in a polymerization time course. Severing and branching are found to act synergistically.

Key Words: ADF/cofilin, annealing, capping protein, cell motility, critical concentration, fragmentation




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F. J. Brooks and A. E. Carlsson
Actin Polymerization Overshoots and ATP Hydrolysis as Assayed by Pyrene Fluorescence
Biophys. J., August 1, 2008; 95(3): 1050 - 1062.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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Copyright © 2005 by the Biophysical Society.