Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 9: Posters: Membranes

BP 9.6: Poster

Monday, March 11, 2013, 17:30–19:30, Poster B2

Optical force induced phagocytic particle binding and uptake by Giant Unilamellar Vesicles — •Andreas Meinel and Alexander Rohrbach — Lab for Bio- and Nano-Photonics, University of Freiburg, Germany

Phagocytosis is a central cellular mechanism in order to engulf particles into the cell membrane. Due to the complex interplay between active and passive cellular components, this mechanism is still not fully understood. A better investigation of the uptake process can be reached by reducing the system’s complexity through using biomimetic systems. We utilize a Giant Unilamellar Vesicle (GUV) as a model for the cell membrane and a photonic force microscope (PFM) to induce and characterize the phagocytic particle uptake.
The PFM allows the trapping and tracking of a micron sized bead in all three dimensions with a high temporal resolution and a spatial precision in the nanometer range. In this study we focus on the acting forces between the particle and the cell membrane during the uptake process. Furthermore, the GUV-bead interaction is described by a theoretical model and compared with experimental results. The proposed methodology initiates a way to get access to the underlying energetical and mechanical concepts of the phagocytic particle uptake process.