Active Force Patterning as an Organizing Principle in Living Cells

by Prof. Madan Rao (Tata Institute for fundamental research)

Thursday 1 Dec 2022, 15:15 → 17:15 Europe/Stockholm

FR4 (AlbaNova Main Building)

The cell is a living state of matter with a definite internal organization across multiple scales. Typically, cells have a cytoskeleton, a structure that helps cells maintain their shape and internal organization, and it also provides mechanical support that enables cells to carry out essential functions like division and movement. There is no single cytoskeletal component. Rather, several different components work together to form the cytoskeleton. Acto-myosin, a major component of the cell spanning cytoskeleton, are the molecular correlates of biological force, and their patterning controls this intracellular organization. The key idea is that the cytoskeleton is not in thermal equilibrium, it uses ATP (adenosyn tri-phosphate) to generate motion. It is active. Using an active hydrodynamics description, we will discuss how novel nonequilibrium features such as nonreciprocity of these actomyosin derived forces give rise to force patterning in living cells.