Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 11: Active Biomimetic Systems and Gels

AKB 11.2: Invited Talk

Monday, March 8, 2004, 12:30–13:00, H40

Membranes and Active Gels — •Hans-Günther Döbereiner — Departments of Biology & Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA

During the last decade, Biological Physics has become a major research field. Especially, the fascinating physics of membranes continues to drive forward our quantitative understanding of cellular behavior. Giant vesicles [1] are an important tool to monitor the properties of biomembranes [2,3] and soft matter in general [4]. Recently, active gels have drawn a lot of attention. Combining the physics of polymers and molecular motors to model biological phenotype [5] will require new concepts. We propose to view cell spreading and migration as a sequence of dynamic phase transitions of active gels and their regulatory networks.

[1] H.-G. Döbereiner, in Giant Vesicles, Perspectives in Supramolecular Chemistry 6, 150, Eds. P.L. Luisi and P. Walde, Wiley & Sons (2000).

[2] H.-G. Döbereiner et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 048301 (2003).

[3] K.A. Riske and H.-G. Döbereiner, Biophys. J. 85 2352-2362 (2003).

[4] C.K. Haluska, W. Góźdź, H.-G. Döbereiner, S. Förster, G. Gompper, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 238302 (2002).

[5] B.J. Dubin-Thaler, G. Giannone, H.-G. Döbereiner, M.P Sheetz, Biophys. J. (2004), in press.