Berlin 2018 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 17: Active Matter II (joint session DY/CPP/BP)

CPP 17.12: Vortrag

Montag, 12. März 2018, 18:30–18:45, BH-N 243

3D dynamics of synthetically assembled microtubules and motors — •Smrithika Subramani, Christian Westendorf, Eberhard Bodenschatz, and Isabella Guido — Max Planck Institute for dynamics and self-organization, Göttingen, Germany

Cytoskeletal filaments such as microtubules play a major role in cell division, organelle transport and cellular motility. These diverse biological functionalities are driven by bending, looping and buckling of microtubule (MT) filaments. In our study, we intend to gain a deeper understanding of these phenomena by synthetically reconstituting dynamic MT structures.

We hierarchically build a model active matter system using depletion-driven MT bundles and the processive motor Kinesin-1, assembled in a tetrameric complex. By hydrolyzing ATP and undergoing a conformational change, the motor complex is able to effectively 'walk' along MT bundles and generate motion in a 3D environment. Our observations include continuous sliding, bending and buckling of MT bundles into long-wavelength arcs, resembling their in vivo behaviour. By using the Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) method, we are able to analyze the MT structure distribution. A multi-plane fluorescence microscopy technique enables us to observe the bundle dynamics in 3D.