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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 10: Postersession II

BP 10.4: Poster

Montag, 12. März 2018, 17:30–19:30, Poster C

DNA based molecular force sensors in reconstituted actin networks — •Christina Jayachandran¹, Max Wardetzky², Florian Rehfeldt¹, and Christoph F. Schmidt¹ — ¹1Drittes Physikalisches Institut, Fakultät für Physik, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen — ²Institut für Numerische und Angewandte Mathematik, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen

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 rheological properties of the actin/DNA networks with a bulk rheometer and by high-bandwidth and high-resolution microrheology aiming to understand network failure mechanisms beyond linear response.