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Slow dynamics and internal stress relaxation in bundled cytoskeletal networks

Nature Materials volume 10, pages 236–242 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Crosslinked and bundled actin filaments form networks that are essential for the mechanical properties of living cells. Reconstituted actin networks have been extensively studied not only as a model system for the cytoskeleton, but also to understand the interplay between microscopic structure and macroscopic viscoelastic properties of network-forming soft materials. These constitute a broad class of materials with countless applications in science and industry. So far, it has been widely assumed that reconstituted actin networks represent equilibrium structures. Here, we show that fully polymerized actin/fascin bundle networks exhibit surprising age-dependent changes in their viscoelastic properties and spontaneous dynamics, a feature strongly reminiscent of out-of-equilibrium, or glassy, soft materials. Using a combination of rheology, confocal microscopy and space-resolved dynamic light scattering, we demonstrate that actin networks build up stress during their formation and then slowly relax towards equilibrium owing to the unbinding dynamics of the crosslinking molecules.

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Figure 1: The frequency-dependent viscoelastic response of an actin/fascin bundle network changes with increasing sample age.
Figure 2: The microstructure of actin/fascin bundle networks indicates the presence of local stress fields.
Figure 3: Internal stress fields in actin/fascin bundle networks decay with increasing sample age.
Figure 4: The temporal evolution of the microscopic displacements and that of the macroscopic network elasticity follow the same kinetics.
Figure 5: The age-dependent changes in the viscoelastic network response can be modified by varying external or internal parameters.
Figure 6: Actin/fascin bundle networks exhibit age-dependent internal dynamics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Rusp for the actin preparation and S. Köhler for the fascin mutation. O.L. acknowledges a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and J.K. the support from CompInt and the Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM). G.B. was supported by CNES and Région Languedoc Roussillon. L.C. acknowledges support from the Institut Universitaire de France.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 500 Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

    O. Lieleg

  2. Lehrstuhl für Zellbiophysik E27, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Straße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany

    O. Lieleg, J. Kayser & A. R. Bausch

  3. Laboratoire des Colloïdes, Verres et Nanomatériaux, UMR 5587, Université Montpellier II and CNRS, 34095 Montpellier, France

    G. Brambilla & L. Cipelletti

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Contributions

O.L., J.K., G.B., L.C. and A.R.B. designed experiments. O.L., J.K., G.B. and L.C. carried out experiments and data analysis and O.L., J.K., L.C. and A.R.B. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to A. R. Bausch.

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Lieleg, O., Kayser, J., Brambilla, G. et al. Slow dynamics and internal stress relaxation in bundled cytoskeletal networks. Nature Mater 10, 236–242 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2939

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