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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 15: Postersession III

BP 15.30: Poster

Dienstag, 13. März 2018, 14:00–16:00, Poster B

Tracking network dynamics and topology of the endoplasmic reticulum — •Konstantin Speckner, Lorenz Stadler, and Matthias Weiss — University of Bayreuth, Experimental Physics 1

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is an interconnected membrane system that extends throughout the cytosol of eukaryotic cells and serves specialized domains for essential cellular tasks. While the rough ER with membrane attached ribosomes is the major site of protein synthesis, the tubular meshwork of the smooth ER carries out lipid metabolism. The shape of this membrane network is constantly subject to modifications that are induced by cytoskeletal transport processes.

To gain insights into the ER's dynamic morphogenesis and topology, confocal fluorescence microscopy was used for cells at different conditions. By combining elements of morphological image processing and concepts of single-particle tracking experiments the organelle's shape was skeletonized to planar graphs composed of ER edges and nodes. When examining distinctive characteristics of complex networks, features of spatial networks were found for the ER's shape. Also, the subdiffusive and anticorrelated movement of individual ER network nodes was analyzed. Quantifying the motion of ER branchpoints in the presence and absence of cytoskeletal elements highlighted the role of active fluctuations for the ER's dynamic morphogenesis in the crowded interior of living cells. With this information, the motion of proteins and specialized domains on the ER could be compared to the overall motion of the ER network.