Researchers at Vrije University in Amsterdam have created a 2D model of a cytoskeletal scaffold made of stiff filaments and molecular motors that generate a nonlinear change in stiffness even though their own behavior is linear.

The model suggests how selective stiffening and softening of the cellular scaffold in various parts of a cell can lead to changes in shape, cell division and even locomotion.

“These principles can inspire the design of novel active biomemetic materials with tunable elastic properties,” they point out.

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1009.3848: Molecular Motors Stiffen Non-Affine Semiflexible Polymer Networks