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. 2016 Dec 21;7:13827. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13827

Figure 5. Assessment of the bundles' propensity to bend.

Figure 5

We consider two vertical bundles each blocked by the rest the network, with typical mesh size ξ (a). Thermal fluctuations or internal network stresses may cause the two filaments to deform and come into contact (b). Denoting by Inline graphic the binding free energy associated with the binding of a crosslinker and by Inline graphic the typical distance between crosslinks, we assess whether such configurations are energetically favourable by comparing the energy bonus Inline graphic due to crosslinker binding to the energy penalty ≈kBTLp/ξ because of filament bending, where Lp is the persistence length of the bundle. The latter exceeds the former for mesh sizes smaller than Inline graphic, (≃3 μm with the parameters of the main text). Our treatment of bundles as rigid is thus justified in these networks.