Forcing Cells into Shape: the Mechanics of Actomyosin Contractility

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol

Specialties Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2015 Jul 2

PMID 26130009

Citations 271

Authors

Michael Murrell

Patrick W Oakes

Martin Lenz

Margaret L Gardel

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Actomyosin-mediated contractility is a highly conserved mechanism for generating mechanical stress in animal cells and underlies muscle contraction, cell migration, cell division and tissue morphogenesis. Whereas actomyosin-mediated contractility in striated muscle is well understood, the regulation of such contractility in non-muscle and smooth muscle cells is less certain. Our increased understanding of the mechanics of actomyosin arrays that lack sarcomeric organization has revealed novel modes of regulation and force transmission. This work also provides an example of how diverse mechanical behaviours at cellular scales can arise from common molecular components, underscoring the need for experiments and theories to bridge the molecular to cellular length scales.

Citing Articles

Measuring and manipulating mechanical forces during development.

Villeneuve C, McCreery K, Wickstrom S Nat Cell Biol. 2025; .

PMID: 40065147 DOI: 10.1038/s41556-025-01632-x.

Metareview: a survey of active matter reviews.

Te Vrugt M, Wittkowski R Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2025; 48(3):12.

PMID: 40035927 PMC: 11880143. DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-024-00466-z.

Combined forces of hydrostatic pressure and actin polymerization drive endothelial tip cell migration and sprouting angiogenesis.

Kondrychyn I, He L, Wint H, Betsholtz C, Phng L Elife. 2025; 13.

PMID: 39977018 PMC: 11841990. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.98612.

Fully addressable designer superstructures assembled from one single modular DNA origami.

Weck J, Heuer-Jungemann A Nat Commun. 2025; 16(1):1556.

PMID: 39934172 PMC: 11814417. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56846-2.

Cell adhesion and spreading on fluid membranes through microtubules-dependent mechanotransduction.

Mikhajlov O, Adar R, Tatulea-Codrean M, Mace A, Manzi J, Tabarin F Nat Commun. 2025; 16(1):1201.

PMID: 39885125 PMC: 11782702. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56343-6.

References

Halder G, Dupont S, Piccolo S . Transduction of mechanical and cytoskeletal cues by YAP and TAZ. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2012; 13(9):591-600. DOI: 10.1038/nrm3416. View

Arai Y, Yasuda R, Akashi K, Harada Y, Miyata H, Kinosita Jr K . Tying a molecular knot with optical tweezers. Nature. 1999; 399(6735):446-8. DOI: 10.1038/20894. View

Field C, Alberts B . Anillin, a contractile ring protein that cycles from the nucleus to the cell cortex. J Cell Biol. 1995; 131(1):165-78. PMC: 2120607. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.131.1.165. View

Sobieszek A . Cross-bridges on self-assembled smooth muscle myosin filaments. J Mol Biol. 1972; 70(3):741-4. DOI: 10.1016/0022-2836(72)90573-6. View

Kim T, Gardel M, Munro E . Determinants of fluidlike behavior and effective viscosity in cross-linked actin networks. Biophys J. 2014; 106(3):526-34. PMC: 3944977. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2013.12.031. View

Wilson C, Tsuchida M, Allen G, Barnhart E, Applegate K, Yam P . Myosin II contributes to cell-scale actin network treadmilling through network disassembly. Nature. 2010; 465(7296):373-7. PMC: 3662466. DOI: 10.1038/nature08994. View

Gardel M, Nakamura F, Hartwig J, Crocker J, Stossel T, Weitz D . Stress-dependent elasticity of composite actin networks as a model for cell behavior. Phys Rev Lett. 2006; 96(8):088102. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.088102. View

Vogel S, Petrasek Z, Heinemann F, Schwille P . Myosin motors fragment and compact membrane-bound actin filaments. Elife. 2013; 2:e00116. PMC: 3545444. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.00116. View

Sonnemann K, Bement W . Wound repair: toward understanding and integration of single-cell and multicellular wound responses. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2011; 27:237-63. PMC: 4878020. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-cellbio-092910-154251. View

10.

Pasternak C, Spudich J, Elson E . Capping of surface receptors and concomitant cortical tension are generated by conventional myosin. Nature. 1989; 341(6242):549-51. DOI: 10.1038/341549a0. View

11.

Salbreux G, Charras G, Paluch E . Actin cortex mechanics and cellular morphogenesis. Trends Cell Biol. 2012; 22(10):536-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2012.07.001. View

12.

Mendes Pinto I, Rubinstein B, Kucharavy A, Unruh J, Li R . Actin depolymerization drives actomyosin ring contraction during budding yeast cytokinesis. Dev Cell. 2012; 22(6):1247-60. PMC: 3376349. DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2012.04.015. View

13.

Verkhovsky A, Borisy G . Non-sarcomeric mode of myosin II organization in the fibroblast lamellum. J Cell Biol. 1993; 123(3):637-52. PMC: 2200132. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.123.3.637. View

14.

Bartles J . Parallel actin bundles and their multiple actin-bundling proteins. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2000; 12(1):72-8. PMC: 2853926. DOI: 10.1016/s0955-0674(99)00059-9. View

15.

Thoresen T, Lenz M, Gardel M . Thick filament length and isoform composition determine self-organized contractile units in actomyosin bundles. Biophys J. 2013; 104(3):655-65. PMC: 3566465. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2012.12.042. View

16.

Hayakawa K, Tatsumi H, Sokabe M . Actin filaments function as a tension sensor by tension-dependent binding of cofilin to the filament. J Cell Biol. 2011; 195(5):721-7. PMC: 3257564. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201102039. View

17.

Courtemanche N, Lee J, Pollard T, Greene E . Tension modulates actin filament polymerization mediated by formin and profilin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013; 110(24):9752-7. PMC: 3683744. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1308257110. View

18.

Lenz M, Gardel M, Dinner A . Requirements for contractility in disordered cytoskeletal bundles. New J Phys. 2012; 14. PMC: 3496381. DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/033037. View

19.

Martin A, Gelbart M, Fernandez-Gonzalez R, Kaschube M, Wieschaus E . Integration of contractile forces during tissue invagination. J Cell Biol. 2010; 188(5):735-49. PMC: 2835944. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.200910099. View

20.

Gordon A, Homsher E, Regnier M . Regulation of contraction in striated muscle. Physiol Rev. 2000; 80(2):853-924. DOI: 10.1152/physrev.2000.80.2.853. View