Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 16: Posters: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration

BP 16.32: Poster

Monday, March 16, 2015, 17:30–19:30, Poster A

Mechanical Coupling of the Cytoskeleton with the Nucleus — •Gabriele Straaß and Florian Rehfeldt — Third Institute of Physics - Biophysics, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany

It is nowadays widely acknowledged that mechanical cues are as important for cellular behaviour as traditional biochemical ones. Strikingly, adult stem cells can be guided to differentiate towards various cell types when cultured on elastic hydrogels with appropriate Young’s modulus E . While the differentiation process takes several days, the acto-myosin cytoskeleton organisation shows significant differences within the first 24 hours after plating. We investigate the mechanical properties of the nucleus by atomic force microscopy and fluorescence microscopy and demonstrate the impact of substrate elasticity E on nuclear morphology via acto-myosin stress fibres. Elucidating the mechanical coupling of the cytoskeleton and the nucleus might reveal a direct mechanical pathway that alters gene transcription and might impact adult stem cell differentiation.