Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 17: Physics of Cells

BP 17.3: Talk

Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 14:30–14:45, PC 203

Actin-membrane interactions in a biomimetic systems studied by a novel, high precision optical method — •Timo Betz, Léa Laetitia Pontani, and Cécile Sykes — Institut Curie, UMR CNRS 168, 11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75248 Paris, France

The lethal potential of cancer results from abnormal cell division and aggressive metastatic activity that turns resting cancer cells into motile structures which spread through an organism, resulting in numerous and often uncontrollable growing subpopulations. It is well known that both cell motility and cell division depend crucially on cell mechanics, namely on the actin cortex which is a dense biopolymer network that is steadily contracted by myosin motors. A key to understand the abnormal motility and proliferation of cancer cells is the quantification of the physical properties of the actin cortex. Of special interest is the activity of the acto-myosin network and its interaction with the plasma membrane that contributes to the physical properties of the cell. To investigate these interactions we combine a novel optical technique that detects the edge fluctuations of a biomimetic cell with high spatial and temporal resolution. The investigated system mimics the actin cortex by polymerizing an actin network under the membrane of a lipid vesicle. Analyzing the membrane fluctuation with and without the actin cortex allows the quantification of physical parameters like bending rigidity and viscoelastic properties of the actin membrane system.