Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 12: Active Systems: Complex Cellular Processes

AKB 12.2: Invited Talk

Monday, March 8, 2004, 15:00–15:30, H40

Dynamic Phenomena and Force Generation in Cells — •Frank Jülicher — Max-Planck Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzerstr. 38, 01187 Dresden

Living cells exhibit a remarkable variety of active behaviors. Material is transported within the cell, cells divide and a lot of cells can swim or crawl along substrates. The molecular basis of such behaviors are highly specialized protein molecules which transduce the chemical energy of a fuel molecule, ATP, to mechanical work and motion. A prototype system are molecular motors of the cytoskeleton which generate forces and motion along linear filaments. The activity on the molecular level leads to complex dynamic behaviors as a result of the interaction of many interacting components. The cytoskeleton on larger scales thus represents a gel-like soft material which is far from thermal equiligrium due to internal active processes. The physical properties and the dynamics of such active gels can be described by a hydrodynamic theory. These concepts can be used to obtain a phenomenological descriptoin of dynamic cellular phenomena such as cell locomotion.