Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 8: Cytoskeletal filaments
BP 8.9: Talk
Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 12:15–12:30, H10
The structure and mechanics of the cellular cortex before, during and after adhesion — •Daniel Flormann1, Emmanuel Terriac1, and Franziska Lautenschläger1,2 — 1Leibniz Institut für neue Materialien — 2Universität des Saarlandes
The cellular cortex plays an important role in biological processes such as cell migration and division. This thin (roughly 200nm) network beneath the cell membrane is mainly composed of actin, associated motors and linkers. It is highly dynamic and the main contributor to the so-called cortical tension. This tension drives the mechanical properties of cells as well as its shapes. During cell adhesion this cortex is altered. In order to test if such alterations of the actin cortex during adhesion influence cellular mechanics, we compared the mechanical properties of RPE1 cells in adhered and suspended state by atomic force microscopy. This results were then correlated to the local structure of the actomyosin network using electron microscopy. We found indeed differences in the mechanical responses and structures depending on the state of adhesion. Altering the activity of the motor protein myosinII allowed us to change the mechanical properties of the cells in both states and changes of the structure could also be observed. Hence, we describe here a quantitative correlation between the structure of the actin cortex and the mechanical properties of cells both in the frame of adhesion state or by chemical alteration. These results may be promising in understanding the mechanical plasticity of cells in processes like embryogenesis or metastasis.