Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 26: Posters: Biomaterials and Biopolymers (joint with CPP)

BP 26.3: Poster

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

Dynamics of vimentin filament aggregation studied in microfluidic drops — •Christian Dammann, Bernd Nöding, Susanne Bauch, and Sarah Köster — Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen, Germany

Studying individual cytoskeletal constituents represents a bottom up approach towards an understanding of cellular mechanics. The structure and function of vimentin intermediate filament networks is influenced – amongst other things – by ions. To perform systematic studies of the influence of ions on vimentin in vitro, we use microfluidic devices to encapsulate the protein and multivalent ions in picoliter sized drops. After fast internal mixing, the drops are held in position to image the fluorescently tagged vimentin using fluorescence microscopy. In this trapping mechanism the drops enter a ‘U’-shaped constriction that keeps them in position immediately after the protein and ions are in contact for the first time. Thus we directly image the time course of aggregation, i.e. how vimentin filaments form connected networks in the drops. The process depends on the ion concentration as well as valence and takes place within the first minutes after drop loading. Since we can resolve individual network features during the aggregation process, our method is promising to shed light on the mechanisms behind the network formation of vimentin in the presence of multivalent ions.