cell news 2/2013
9
‘cable-constriction’ versus a ‘fow-friction’ motor in the context
of their biological function. In the case of epiboly, a geometry-
independent crawling type of ‘fow-friction’ is advantageous,
because it contributes to the epiboly movement even before the
ring has reached the equator. On the contrary for cytokinesis,
while friction-resisted fows along the width of the ring could
play a role in the positioning of the ring or its assembly (37-
39) cable-constriction along the circumference is needed for its
main task to physically divide the cell.
To conclude, the study discussed here highlights the importance
of identifying and understanding the biophysical material laws
by which actomyosin-based fow and deformation of cells and
tissues arise. These laws will provide us with the relevant coarse-
grained and mesoscale biophysical parameters which determine
large-scale dynamics, and only they will allow us to understand
how particular morphogenetic processes arise and proceed.
Therefore, an essential task for the future is to understand how
the relevant physical properties emerge from molecular activities
within the actomyosin cortex.
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to Carl-Philipp Heisenberg and Guillaume Salbreux for a fruitful and exci-
ting collaboration. We express our gratitude to all present and past members of the Grill and
Heisenberg lab, as well as colleagues and scientifc service units at MPI-CBG and IST Austria.
We thank Carl-Philipp Heisenberg for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. S.W.G
acknowledges funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the European
Research Council (ERC).
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From left to right: Eugen Kerkhoff, Stephan Grill, Dr. Jens Thielmann,
BINDER Central Services GmbH & Co. KG
For CV see Stephan Grill’s article in Cell News 4/2011 (p. 33)
binder innovation prize
