Datensatz

Zusammenfassung

Living cells exhibit an enormous bandwidth of mechanical and morphological properties that are mainly determined by the cytoskeleton.
In metazoan cells this composite network is constituted of three
different types of filamentous systems: actin filaments, microtubules
and intermediate filaments. Keratin-type intermediate filaments are an
essential component of epithelial tissues, where they comprise networks
of filaments and filament bundles. However, the underlying mechanisms
leading to this inherently polymorphic structure remain elusive. Here,
we show that keratin filaments form kinetically trapped networks of
bundles under near-physiological conditions in vitro. The network
structure is determined by the intricate interplay between filament
elongation and their lateral association to bundles and clusters.