Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 13: Cell Mechanics I

BP 13.4: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 10:30–10:45, SCH A251

Pulling, failing and adaptation of macrophage filopodia — •Alexander Rohrbach and Rebecca Michiels — Bio- und Nano-Photonik, Universität Freiburg

Macrophages are cells of the immune system, which use filopodia to connect to pathogens and withdraw them towards the cell body for phagocytosis. The withdrawal of living targets requires to overcome counteracting forces, which the cell generates after a mechanical stimulus is transmitted to the filopodium. Adaptation to mechanical cues is an essential biological function of cells, but it is unclear whether optimization strategies are essential for filopodia pulling. We use optically trapped beads as artificial targets and interferometric particle tracking to investigate factors contributing to filopodia performance. We find that bead retractions are interrupted by sudden failure events caused by mechanical rupture of the actin-membrane connection. Filopodia resume pulling only milliseconds after ruptures by reconnecting to the actin backbone. Remarkably, we see a gradual increase of filopodia force after failures, which points towards a previously unknown adaptation mechanism. Fluorescence microscopy reveals that particles are transported in a stop-and-go behavior with the actin retrograde flow via a force-dependent linker at the filopodium tip. Additionally, we see that the strength of the attachment between bead and filopodium increases under load, a characteristic of catch bond adhesion proteins. Our findings show how mechanical adaptation enable macrophage cells to optimize their performance under load.