Condensation of F-Actin by Dimensional Reduction

We present a Brownian Dynamics simulation of the equilibrium condensation of F-actin in the presence of linker molecules. The filaments are modeled as worm-like chains, using finite element analysis. At low linker concentrations, the systems forms a gel whose physical properties do not depend on the linker molecules. If the linker concentration is increased then for isotropic linkers only a single mode of condensation is encountered: bundle formation. If the linker molecules impose a preferential angle between F-actin filaments, then condensation takes place either into a either a hexatic or squaratic two-dimensional liquid crystal phase or into a heterogeneous cluster. Condensation is driven by competition between linker and filament entropy, which imposes dimensional reduction on the F-actin aggregate.