Dynamic Balance between Force Generation and Relaxation Facilitates Pulsed Contraction of Actomyosin Networks (Biophysical Journal)

Actomyosin contractility regulates various biological processes including cell migration and cytokinesis. The cell cortex underlying the membrane of eukaryote cells exhibits dynamic contractile behaviors facilitated by the actomyosin contractility. Interestingly, the cell cortex shows reversible aggregation of actin and myosin called `pulsed contraction` in diverse cellular phenomena, such as embryogenesis and tissue morphogenesis. While contractile behaviors of actomyosin machinery have been studied extensively in several in vitro experiments and computational studies, none of them successfully reproduced pulsed contraction observed in vivo.