Existence and uniqueness of solutions for a model of non-sarcomeric actomyosin bundles

The model for disordered actomyosin bundles recently derived in [6] includes the effects of cross-linking of parallel and anti-parallel actin filaments, their polymerization and depolymerization, and, most importantly, the interaction with the motor protein myosin, which leads to sliding of anti-parallel filaments relative to each other. The model relies on the assumption that actin filaments are short compared to the length of the bundle. It is a two-phase model which treats actin filaments of both orientations separately. It consists of quasi-stationary force balances determining the local velocities of the filament families and of transport equation for the filaments. Two types of initial-boundary value problems are considered, where either the bundle length or the total force on the bundle are prescribed. In the latter case, the bundle length is determined as a free boundary. Local in time existence and uniqueness results are proven. For the problem with given bundle length, a global solution exists for short enough bundles.