Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 10: Postersession II

BP 10.7: Poster

Monday, March 12, 2018, 17:30–19:30, Poster C

Failure of biological networks with dynamic cross-links — •Mareike Berger, David Brückner, and Chase Broedersz — Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany

The cytoskeleton is a complex network of crosslinked biopolymers, which is crucial for cellular rigidity and cell motility. To achieve such a variety of functions, it is important that these cytoskeletal networks can both withstand stress and adapt to external forces by remodeling. Rheological experiments with reconstituted crosslinked actin filament networks have revealed that these systems exhibit a complex viscoelastic response, which depends sensitively on the external stress imposed on the system: Under stress the network can behave either more fluid-like or more solid-like, depending on the configuration of the system. To investigate this behavior, we introduce a simple model of dynamically cross-linked networks. With this model we can study both these nonlinear viscoelastic properties as well as the failure of these networks under stress.