During cell division (of animal cell)
a contractile ring, comprised of non-muscle myosin
II and actin
filaments is formed and polaced at the center of the cell. This ring
contracts using the energy
released from ATP hydrolysis and physically cleaves the cell into
two.
We propose a microscopic model of the contractile ring which capture
basic features of cytokinesis.
In our model (although in 1d) depending on the density (of actin
filaments) and the interaction (rate, which
depends on myosin density) a phase transition from a "uniform" to a aggregated
state takes place. This
condensation transition is quite similar to the Bose-Eienstein
transition.
We show that the ring contracts by aggregating the actin
filaments along the ring, which is
observed in in-vitro. (under
construction.......) Ref :
