Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 23: Cell Motility and Migration (in vitro and in vivo)

BP 23.5: Talk

Thursday, March 29, 2007, 15:15–15:30, H43

A Biomimetic System Modeling Active Lamellipodial Network Dynamics — •Florian Huber, Björn Stuhrmann, and Josef Käs — Institute for Soft Matter Physics, University Leipzig, Linnéstr. 5, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany

Many different cell types (e.g., keratocytes or fibroblasts) show directed motion (motility), a process driven by the assembly of Actin protein at the leading front of the cell, the lamellipodium. Although the details of polymerization regulation by accessory proteins differ between cell types, several important features are conserved throughout the eukaryotic kingdom. The key molecular players involved in these processes have been identified and have already been used to generate in vitro Actin network growth. While existing assays are sufficient to explain intracellular bacteria propulsion, they are not adequate to describe crawling cell motility extensively. The required next step towards cellular conditions is to confine the polymerizing Actin gel to nanostructured cell-sized chambers. This approach restricts the protein pool available and thus allows to mimic for the first time the self-sustaining character of the lamellipodia machinery.

Our setup will allow the observation of the system‘s response to controlled variation of various biochemical and physical parameters. Numerical simulations will be used to extract constitutive equations from experimantal data on dynamic distributions of the various protein species. Mechanical properties will be analyzed using passive microrheology. This model system represents a novel means to explore biomechanical mechanisms forming the basis of cell motility.