Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 32: Posters: Physics of Cells
BP 32.4: Poster
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 17:15–20:00, Poster B1
Cell Monolayer Rheology — •Mathias Sander and Albrecht Ott — Biologische Experimentalphysik, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken
The mechanics of living cells is a major determinant of cell behaviour (e.g. in wound healing, cell differentiation). Understanding its underlying principles would add to cell biology, medicine and biophysics. Here we use "Cell Monolayer Rheology (CMR)", which determines the properties of a monolayer of approximately 106 cells with the help of a commercial rheometer. This allows us an improved definition of cell-mechanical responses. As for dead matter, it is often assumed that cells respond linearly within certain ranges of mechanical stimuli. However, the highly complex and dynamic structure of the cytoskeleton, which mainly governs the cellular mechanical properties, suggests a more subtle mechanical behaviour. Therefore, in our experiments, we focus on the non-linear response of a cell monolayer. Another important topic is the rheological study of inorganic layers as adhesion-promoting surface coatings. These can serve as an alternative to usual protein coatings. We investigate the different coatings with respect to their adhesion properties using the CMR-technique.