Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 22: Physics of Cells I

BP 22.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 16:45–17:00, ZEU 250

Spatio-Temporally Controlled Cues Mediating Cell Migration — Börn Meier and •Doris Heinrich — Faculty of Physics and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München, Germany

Cell migration relies on iterative pseudopod extension, which is based on internally controlled actin polymerization. In the chemotactic model organism Dictyostelium discoideum, robust intracellular feedback systems of complex protein interactions ensure directed cell migration towards an external chemotactic stimulus. Here, we investigate how external, spatiotemporally varying cues influence pseudopod generation and intracellular actin distribution in living cells. To relate the dynamics of pseudopod formation to the spatial distribution of chemotactic key players, we developed a microfluidic chamber with three independently tunable inlets to generate large scale spatio-temporally controlled gradient fields. For a quantitative description of cellular repolarization dynamics, we reverse the chemotactic gradient direction on freely tunable timescales. In response, we observe the time-resolved spatial distribution of actin polymerization in the evolving external gradient field. We can control cell migration by increasing the switching frequency of the gradient direction up to the point, where we chemically trap the cells.