Figure 3
From: Varying crosslinking motifs drive the mesoscale mechanics of actin-microtubule composites
Actin-microtubule composites display multi-mode force relaxation with varying degrees of elasticity tuned by the crosslinker motif. (a) Force relaxation after microsphere displacement as a function of time F(t) on a log-y scale for composites with varying crosslinking motifs listed in the legend in (b). Thin grey curves correspond to fits of each relaxation to the exponential sum equation displayed. Thicker grey lines guide the eye to show three distinct phases with different exponential decays (i.e different slopes). (b) F(t) normalized by the force at the beginning of relaxation, Fo. (c) The fractional force dissipation, computed as (Fo-Ff)/Fo where Ff is the force at the end of the relaxation measurement period. As shown, Class 1 composites exhibit much more force relaxation compared to Class 2 composites that retain substantial memory of imposed strain. (d) Relaxation times, τ1 (squares), τ2 (triangles), and τ3 (circles) determined from the fits shown in (a). (e) Relative relaxation coefficients Ci/(C1 + C2 + C3) for each exponential term (i = 1,2,3) determined from the fits to the data (shown in (a)). Error bars determined from fits are shown but are smaller than the size of the symbols in most cases.
