A positive feedback-based mechanism for constriction rate acceleration during cytokinesis inC. elegans

ABSTRACT During cytokinesis, an equatorial actomyosin contractile ring constricts at a relatively constant overall rate despite its progressively decreasing size. Thus, the per-unit-length rate of ring closure increases as ring perimeter decreases. To understand this acceleration, we monitored cortical surface and ring component dynamics during the first division of the C. elegans embryo. We show that the polar cortex expands during ring constriction to provide the cortical surface area required for division. Polar expansion also allows ring myosin to compress cortical surface along the pole-to-pole axis, leading to a continuous flow of cortical surface into the ring. We propose that feedback between ring myosin and compression-driven cortical flow drives an exponential increase in the amount of ring myosin that maintains the high overall closure rate as ring perimeter decreases. We further show that an analytical mathematical formulation of the proposed feedback, called the Compression Feedback model, recapitulates the experimental observations. IMPACT STATEMENT During cytokinesis, positive feedback between myosin motors in the contractile ring and compression-driven cortical flow along the axis perpendicular to the ring drives constriction rate acceleration to ensure timely cell separation. MAJOR SUBJECT AREAS Cell biology, Computational and Systems Biology