Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 7: Poster I

BP 7.15: Poster

Monday, March 23, 2009, 17:45–20:00, P3

How molecular crowding speeds up mechanotransduction — •Sebastian Sturm¹, Benedikt Obermayer², Andrea Kramer¹, and Klaus Kroy¹ — ¹ITP, Universität Leipzig — ²ASC & CENS, LMU München

No higher forms of life could exist without the ability of biological cells to quickly sense and react to changes in their environment. In general, stimuli excite the cell membrane and have to be transmitted to the nucleus. Mechano-transduction through the cytoskeleton may arguably provide the fastest pathway for mechanical stimuli. Understanding the dynamics of tension propagation through biopolymer networks is thus an important task.

Our approach combines two recent theoretical developments: (i) a systematic theory of tension propagation in single semiflexible polymers [1]; (ii) the glassy wormlike chain model accounting for the influence of a crowded and sticky environment. Extending our previous work, we present (asymptotic) analytical and numerical solutions to the theory and discuss a reinterpretation of the Glassy Wormlike Chain in terms of force transmission through the background medium.

[1] O. Hallatschek, E. Frey and K. Kroy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 077804 (2005)

[2] K. Kroy and J. Glaser, The glassy wormlike chain. New Journal of Physics, 9(416), 2007.