Berlin 2012 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Posters: Proteins
BP 7.37: Poster
Monday, March 26, 2012, 17:30–19:30, Poster A
Investigation of desmin intermediate filament assembly by atomic force microscopy — •Mareike Dieding1, Volker Walhorn1, Andreas Brodehl2, Hendrik Milting2, and Dario Anselmetti1 — 1Experimental Biophysics & Applied Nanoscience, Bielefeld University, Germany — 2E. & H. Klessmann Institute for Cardiovascular Research & Development, Heart and Diabetes Centre NRW, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany
Intermediate filament (IF) proteins form extended filamentous networks in metazoan cells. Desmin IF is a vital structural component of the cytoskeleton in myocytes. In line with the functional importance of desmin, we investigated several desmin mutants associated with the inherited heart muscle disease arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), which is a major cause of sudden cardiac death in adolescent and athletes.
Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we studied desmin oligomers at different stages of the in vitro assembly process. Thereby we were able to reveal various mutation specific structural defects at distinct stages of the filament assembly. These findings are nicely supported by complementary methods like cell transfection studies [1,2].
[1] A. Brodehl et al., Dual-color photoactivation localization microscopy of cardiomyopathy associated desmin mutants, submitted.
[2] B. Klauke et al., De novo desmin-mutation N116S is associated with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, Hum. Mol. Genet. 19(23), 2010.