Polymer Engineering Faculty Research

Dynamics of force generation by confined actin filaments

Younjin Min, The University of Akron

Abstract

Forces generated by polymerizing/de-polymerizing actin filaments confined between two mica surfaces were measured using the Surface Forces Apparatus. The measurements show that confined actin filaments exhibit complex force-generation dynamics involving multiple “modes”, the predominance of which is determined by the confinement gap and the applied force (confining pressure).