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Cells move and divide by dynamically assembling and disassembling their cytoskeleton. These processes are regulated by numerous proteins from the cytoplasm, which make the mechanism very complex to understand. However, general trends can be isolated and simplified stripped-down systems are useful tools to unveil generic mechanisms. In particular, the actin system is able to produce forces and deformations, with or without myosin motors. These actin forces can be used by the cell to do various things such as intracellular trafficking, adhesion, shape deformations, and movement. We will describe experiments illustrating how the actin-generated forces can be measured in a cell-like system, and how these forces can be modulated by physical effects triggered by actin filaments crosslinkers, or other actin-binding proteins.
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