Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 4: Mechanics and Dynamics of 3D Tissues - Joint Focus Session (BP/CPP/DY) organized by Peter Loskill

DY 4.4: Talk

Monday, March 20, 2017, 10:45–11:00, SCH A251

Mechanical spectroscopy of retina explants at the protein level employing nanostructured scaffolds — •Mareike Zink¹ and S. G. Mayr² — ¹Soft Matter Physics Division, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany — ²Leibniz Institute for Surface Modification (IOM), Leipzig, Germany & Division of Surface Physics, Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Leipzig, Germany

The mechanical properties of the retina play a crucial role in function and diseases of the eye. Here we present that nanostructured TiO2 substrates can be employed as vibrating reed to investigate the mechanical properties of adult mammalian retinae at the nanometer. Within a self-designed mechanical spectroscopy setup, the reed with the retina on top is excited to perform free damped oscillations. The detected oscillation parameters represent a fingerprint of the frequency-dependent mechanical tissue properties that are derived in combination with sandwich beam analysis and finite element calculations. We found that the Young's modulus of the retina is of the order of a few GPa, much higher than values obtained from experiments in which tissue response is investigated on micrometer length scales. In our study, polymers and proteins on the photoreceptor side of the retina in contact with the nanostructured reed are stretched and compressed during vibration of the underlying scaffold and the acting intramolecular forces are probed at the protein level. To this end, our mechanical spectroscopy approach offers new perspectives in studying mechanical response of individual proteins within the tissue for investigating tissue mechanics, diseases and the effect of drugs.