Cluster Formation and Phase Separation Driven by Mobile Myosin Motors in the Motility Assay

Abstract

Interactions between F-actin and myosin are critically important for a wide range of biological processes, including cell migration, cytokinesis, and morphogenesis. The motility assay with myosin motors fixed on a surface has been utilized for understanding various phenomena emerging from the interactions between F-actin and myosin. For example, F-actin in the motility assay exhibited distinct collective behaviors when actin concentration was above a critical threshold. Recent studies have performed the myosin motility assay on a lipid bilayer, meaning that myosin motors anchored on the fluid-like membrane have mobility. Interestingly, mobile motors led to very different collective behaviors of F-actin compared to those induced by stationary motors. However, the dynamics and mechanism of the unique collective behaviors have remained elusive. In this study, we employed our cutting-edge computational model to simulate the motility assay with mobile myosin motors. We reproduced the formation of actin clusters observed in experiments and showed that F-actin within clusters exhibits strong polar ordering and leads to phase separation between myosin motors and F-actin. The cluster formation was highly dependent on the average length and concentration of F-actin. Our study provides insights into understanding the collective behaviors of F-actins that could emerge under more physiological conditions.