Physics of adherent cells

US Schwarz, SA Safran - Reviews of Modern Physics, 2013 - APS
One of the most unique physical features of cell adhesion to external surfaces is the active
generation of mechanical force at the cell-material interface. This includes pulling forces …

Mechanisms of myosin II force generation: insights from novel experimental techniques and approaches

DE Rassier, A Månsson - Physiological Reviews, 2025 - journals.physiology.org
Myosin II is a molecular motor that converts chemical energy derived from ATP hydrolysis
into mechanical work. Myosin II isoforms are responsible for muscle contraction and a range …

Stochastic mechano-chemical kinetics of molecular motors: a multidisciplinary enterprise from a physicist's perspective

D Chowdhury - Physics Reports, 2013 - Elsevier
A molecular motor is made of either a single macromolecule or a macromolecular complex.
Just like their macroscopic counterparts, molecular motors “transduce” input energy into …

MEDYAN: mechanochemical simulations of contraction and polarity alignment in actomyosin networks

K Popov, J Komianos, GA Papoian - PLoS computational biology, 2016 - journals.plos.org
Active matter systems, and in particular the cell cytoskeleton, exhibit complex
mechanochemical dynamics that are still not well understood. While prior computational …

Physics of muscle contraction

M Caruel, L Truskinovsky - Reports on Progress in Physics, 2018 - iopscience.iop.org
In this paper we report, clarify and broaden various recent efforts to complement the
chemistry-centered models of force generation in (skeletal) muscles by mechanics-centered …

Coordination and collective properties of molecular motors: theory

T Guérin, J Prost, P Martin, JF Joanny - Current opinion in cell biology, 2010 - Elsevier
Many cellular processes require molecular motors to produce motion and forces. Single
molecule experiments have led to a precise description of how a motor works. Under most …

Distinct roles of nonmuscle myosin II isoforms for establishing tension and elasticity during cell morphodynamics

K Weißenbruch, J Grewe, M Hippler, M Fladung… - Elife, 2021 - elifesciences.org
Abstract Nonmuscle myosin II (NM II) is an integral part of essential cellular processes,
including adhesion and migration. Mammalian cells express up to three isoforms termed NM …

Three-dimensional stochastic model of actin–myosin binding in the sarcomere lattice

SM Mijailovich, O Kayser-Herold, B Stojanovic… - Journal of General …, 2016 - rupress.org
The effect of molecule tethering in three-dimensional (3-D) space on bimolecular binding
kinetics is rarely addressed and only occasionally incorporated into models of cell motility …

Spontaneous oscillations of a minimal actomyosin system under elastic loading

PY Plaçais, M Balland, T Guérin, JF Joanny, P Martin - Physical review letters, 2009 - APS
Spontaneous mechanical oscillations occur in various types of biological systems where
groups of motor molecules are elastically coupled to their environment. By using an optical …

Stochastic force generation by small ensembles of myosin II motors

T Erdmann, US Schwarz - Physical review letters, 2012 - APS
Forces in the actin cytoskeleton are generated by small groups of nonprocessive myosin II
motors for which stochastic effects are highly relevant. Using a cross-bridge model with the …