Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 22: Physics of Cells I

BP 22.1: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 15:00–15:30, ZEU 250

The interplay between actin dynamics and membrane tension determines the shape of moving cells — •Kinneret Keren — Department of Physics, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

A central challenge in cell motility research is to quantitatively understand how numerous molecular building blocks self-organize to achieve coherent shape and movement on cellular scales. We focus on one of the classic examples of such self-organization, namely lamellipodial motility, in which forward translocation is driven by a treadmilling actin network. We combine detailed measurements of lamellipodial morphology, spatio-temporal actin dynamics and membrane tension, with mathematical modeling to explain how global shape and speed of the lamellipodium emerge from the underlying assembly and disassembly dynamics of the actin network within an inextensible membrane bag.