Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 32: Posters: Physics of Cells

BP 32.26: Poster

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 17:15–20:00, Poster B1

Structure and dynamics of stress fibers in 3T3 fibroblasts — •Constantin Spille, Til Driehorst, Florian Rehfeldt, and Christoph F. Schmidt — Drittes Physikalisches Institut, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany

Mechano-sensing and force transduction play an essential role in many cellular processes but the microscopic mechanisms are not yet understood. Acto-myosin stress fibers are key players in the physical response to the mechanical micro-environment as demonstrated in recent studies of cells spreading on elastic substrates. Stress fibers are composite structures of actin bundles, cross-linked by alpha-actinin, and mini-filaments of non muscle myosin II (NMM II) that generate contractile forces.

We here present data, obtained by confocal microscopy, on the structure of stress fibers in 3T3 fibroblasts adhering to elastic substrates of varying stiffness. Staining fixed cells at different time points for actin, NMM IIa, and alpha-actinin, has allowed us to quantitatively analyze the influence of the mechanical properties of the surrounding on the cell's cytoskeleton and on the architecture of stress fibers.