Active self-organization in actin cytoskeleton*

One of the architectures actin cytoskeleton exhibits is nematic, consisting of aligned actin filaments of mixed-polarity associated with actin-binding proteins. Although recent literature reports the self-assembly of nematic actin bundles with a regular wavelength, yet the mechanism of their morphogenesis is still poorly understood. In this study, we use a continuum model to explain an out-of-equilibrium self-assembly of such regularly spaced actin bundles. Our linear stability analysis predicts an unstable regime that gives rise to such patterns. Furthermore, using simulations we investigate a long time scales behavior of the self-organized actin bundles in the non-linear regime. We demonstrate that the non-linear regime is characterized by the self-organized actin bundles further maturing and interacting with each other.