Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 21: Biopolymers and Biomaterials II (with CPP)

BP 21.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 12:00–12:15, ZEU 260

Network Formation of Cytoskeletal Proteins — •Christian Dammann, Bernd Nöding, Susanne Bauch, and Sarah Köster — Courant Research Centre Nano-Spectroscopy and X-Ray Imaging, University of Göttingen, Germany

The structure and function of biological systems is determined by their bio-environment. Therefore, a drop-based microfluidic device is tailored to probe context-sensitivity of biological systems. In this device a series of monodisperse aqueous drops is created and used as picoliter bio-compartments. The composition of the drops is varied from drop to drop. Thus, the biological system is encapsulated in drops with tunable chemical content. These drops are then stored in the device for long-time observations. The content composition of each individual drop can be reconstructed. Possible applications of this tool are manifold. The device proves to be suitable for in vitro studies on cytoskeletal proteins. We focus on the assembly and network formation of vimentin intermediate filament. The assembly of vimentin depends on the ionic strength. We are able to directly image the networks of the fluorescently tagged protein and show that divalent ions induce compaction of these networks.