Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 22: Posters: Cytoskeletal filaments

BP 22.21: Poster

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 14:00–16:00, Poster A

Lateral Filopodial Movement in Fibroblasts on Microcontact Printed Substrates — •Julia Strübig, Erik Bernitt, and Hans-Günther Döbereiner — Institut for Biophysics, University of Bremen, Germany

Lamellipodial and filopodial protrusions play a fundamental role in cell migration. A proposed mechanism of filopodia initiation describes the collision and fusion of moving actin bundles leading to formation of filopodial precursors (Svitkina et. al., 2003). The authors of a study on neuronal growth cones proposed a simple geometric model in which the lateral filopodia velocity depends on the retrograde flow (Oldenbourg et. al., 2000). However, we also found laterally moving filopodia in the lamellipodium of fibroblasts. We are interested in testing the proposed model in this system, under a change of the retrograde flow due to inhibition of Myosin II. We force cells into well-defined morphologies using microcontact printed disc-like fibronectin patches in order to achieve reproducible conditions. This system allows us to focus on stationary cells with a round and smooth lamellipodium. Using phase contrast and fluorescent microscopy we monitor the mechanism of filopodia initiation and analyze the velocities of their movement. We find slower lateral filopodia velocities as a consequence of slowing down the retrograde flow within the geometrical model.