Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 36: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration II

BP 36.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 16:15–16:30, H 1058

Modeling crawling cell motility — •Jakob Löber¹, Falko Ziebert², and Igor Aranson³ — ¹Institut für Theoretische Physik, TU Berlin — ²Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany — ³Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, USA

Self-propelled motion, emerging spontaneously or in response to external cues, is a hallmark of living organisms. Self-propulsion relies on the force transfer to the surrounding. While self-propelled swimming in the bulk of liquids is fairly well characterized, many open questions remain in our understanding of self-propelled motion of cells along substrates. Here we present a phenomenological model for crawling cells based on an advected phase field model and other reaction-diffusion equations. The force transfer from the cell to the substrate is explicitly taken into account, giving rise to complex modes of cell movement such as bipedal motion and stick-slip motion. The model captures the generic structure of the traction force distribution and faithfully reproduces experimental observations, like the response of a cell on a gradient in substrate elasticity (durotaxis). Collective states of motion such as concerted rotation arises for multiple interacting cells on patterned substrates.