The remarkable processes that characterize living organisms, such as motility, self-healing
and reproduction, are fuelled by a continuous injection of energy at the microscale. The field …

During epithelial morphogenesis, E-cadherin adhesive junctions play an important part in
mechanically coupling the contractile cortices of cells together, thereby distributing the …

Animal cell shape is largely determined by the cortex, a thin actin network underlying the
plasma membrane in which myosin-driven stresses generate contractile tension. Tension …

This is an overview of theoretical approaches to semiflexible polymers and their networks.
Such semiflexible polymers have large bending rigidities that can compete with the entropic …

The cytoskeleton is the major mechanical structure of the cell; it is a complex, dynamic
biopolymer network comprising microtubules, actin, and intermediate filaments. Both the …

The cortex is a thin, crosslinked actin network lying immediately beneath the plasma
membrane of animal cells. Myosin motors exert contractile forces in the meshwork. Because …

Apical constriction is a cell shape change that promotes tissue remodeling in a variety of
homeostatic and developmental contexts, including gastrulation in many organisms and …

Here we develop a minimal model of the cell actomyosin cortex by forming a quasi-2D cross-
linked filamentous actin (F-actin) network adhered to a model cell membrane and contracted …

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 …

Actin is the main protein used by biological cells to adapt their structure and mechanics to
their needs. Cellular adaptation is made possible by molecular processes that strongly …