Actin pool controls the scaling of dynamic actin networks

Dynamic actin networks reconstituted from purified proteins in microwells scale with environment volume, with scaling set by monomer depletion from a shared pool.

• Why it matters: Cells must scale internal structures to their size, but the mechanism by which self-assembling actin networks adapt to volume is unresolved.
• What they did: Beads were propelled by actin polymerization in microwells of different volumes, using a limited, defined component number to reconstitute volume-adaptive dynamic networks.
• The result: Stronger monomer depletion and altered disassembly rates shift the scaling regime, and competing networks scale with competition by imposing stronger constraints on the monomer pool.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.