Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Cytoskeletal filaments

BP 8.4: Talk

Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 10:15–10:30, H10

Effect of the molecular architecture on vimentin intermediate filament mechanics — •Anna Schepers, Charlotta Lorenz, Johanna Block, Julia Kraxner, and Sarah Köster — Institute for X-Ray Physics, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany

Intermediate filaments (IFs), together with microfilaments (MFs) and microtubulues (MTs), give cells specific and unique mechanical properties in shape of the cytoskeleton. While MFs and MTs are conserved between cell types, IFs are expressed in a cell type specific manner. To understand the mechanisms within IFs that determine the mechanical response to stresses, single IFs are investigated in vitro using a setup that combines optical tweezers, fluorescence microscopy and microfluidics. By changing the environment (pH, buffer, ion valency and ion concentration) different force-strain behaviours of single vimentin IFs are observed in stretching experiments. The IFs show a remarkable dependency on the buffer pH and presence of cations while the cation valency and buffer seem to be neglectable. With these results, we can link the molecular architecture and, in parts, the primary protein structure of vimentin IFs to their mechanical response.