Berlin 2008 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 24: Actin Dynamics
BP 24.4: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 28. Februar 2008, 15:00–15:15, C 243
Actin flow and cellular traction at focal adhesions: measurements and theoretical interpretation — •Benedikt Sabass1, Margaret Gardel2, Clare Waterman3, and Ulrich Schwarz1 — 1University of Heidelberg, BQ 0013, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany — 2University of Chicago, IL, USA — 3NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
The dynamic nature of cell-substrate contacts (focal adhesions) is an essential ingredient of the communication between cells and their environment. In particular the intracellular motion of actin flow and its connection to external cellular traction seems to be crucial for cellular decision making at focal adhesions. We have developed a novel assay to simultaneously measure retrograde actin flow and cellular traction force with high spatial resolution. The resulting data demonstrates a biphasic relationship between actin speed and traction. Moreover, we find that maximum traction is always exerted at a speed level which is independent of biochemical perturbations. This suggests the existence of a robust sensory mechanism relating internal flow dynamics to traction in the environment. We also discuss physical models for bond dynamics which are able to explain the experimentally found data.