Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 53: Posters - Active Matter

DY 53.7: Poster

Thursday, March 23, 2017, 17:00–19:30, P1A

DNA based molecular force sensors in reconstituted actin networks — •Christina Jayachandran¹, Max Wardetzky², Florian Rehfeldt¹, and Christoph Schmidt² — ¹Third Institute of Physics, Georg- August Universität — ²Institute of Numerical and applied Mathematics, Georg- August Universität

Actin, among the other bio-polymers present in cells, is largely responsible for cellular shape and mechanical stability. The actin cytoskeleton which self-assembles into networks of crosslinked filaments and bundles is responsible for active cellular processes ranging from migration, division and intracellular transport to morphogenesis. Crucial for these processes is the spatial and temporal regulation of the structure and dynamics of the network and of the generation of forces, mostly by myosin motors.

To understand basic phenomena in such active networks, we investigate model networks comprised of semi-flexible actin filaments crosslinked by custom designed dsDNA constructs as flexible cross linkers. We also utilize these DNA constructs as force sensors in order to map stress distributions in the networks. We characterized the FRET-based stress sensors with a spectrophotometer. We study the macro- and micro-rheological properties of the actin/DNA networks, focusing on network failure mechanisms beyond a non-linear response.