Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 24: Posters: Physics of Cells

BP 24.7: Poster

Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 17:30–19:30, Poster C

Elasticity measurements of fibroblastic cell nuclei by atomic force microscope for characterizing Lamin and TMEM43 mutations — •Tamara Münnich¹, Volker Walhorn¹, Helene Schellenberg¹, Astrid Kassner², Hendrik Milting², and Dario Anselmetti¹ — ¹Experimental Biophysics, Bielefeld University, Germany — ²Erich und Hanna Klessmann-Institut, Herz- und Diabeteszentrum Bad Oeynhausen, Germany

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is an inherited heart muscle disease associated with cardiac arrhythmia. It is a major cause of sudden cardiac death in the young and athletes. Mutations of the intermediate filament Lamin and the transmembrane protein 43 (TMEM43) are connected to ARVC. Both proteins are located at the nuclear envelope. As the cell nucleus has to resist strong mechanical stress caused by the contraction of the heart muscle, we suppose that the mutations affect functional mechanical properties of the nucleus. The elastic moduli of the cell nuclei were measured with the atomic force microscope and estimated by the Hertz-model. The measurements were performed with fibroblasts, which serve as a model system for cardiomyocytes. We analyzed a set of Lamin and TMEM43 mutated cells and compared them to a control group consisting of wild type fibroblasts and mutations not associated with ARVC. The TMEM43 mutant showed much higher and widespread elastic moduli, whereas the elasticity of the Lamin mutant is similar to the control group. In the future we will analyze modified fibroblasts expressing no Lamin and TMEM43 respectively.