Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 23: Biopolymers and Biomaterials III (with CPP)

BP 23.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 16:30–16:45, ZEU 260

Interplay of conformational degrees of freedom and crosslink binding in filamentous biopolymer bundles — •Claus Heussinger — Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Goettingen, Germany

Crosslinked F-Actin bundles constitute principal components of a multitude of cytoskeletal processes and play key roles in many cellular functions. Much of the special properties of crosslinked biopolymer bundles derives from the interplay of bundle conformational degrees of freedom with the internal binding status of the crosslinking agent. Depending on probing time- and length-scales this interplay can lead to interesting dynamical effects as well as non-trivial elasto-plastic phase-behavior. By employing theoretical considerations combined with Monte-Carlo simulations, we will discuss some aspects of the internal dynamics of the cross-linker whose binding affinity serves to stabilize the bundle. We show how an imposed bundle deformation modifies the equilibrium binding constant and even allows for the coexistence of different bundle states.