Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 21: Cell Adhesion and Migration, Multicellular Systems I

BP 21.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 10:30–10:45, HÜL 386

Stress Fiber vs. Cortical Contractility and its Relevance for Tissue and Cancer Development — •Enrico Warmt, Steffen Grosser, Eliane Blauth, and Josef Käs — Uni Leipzig, Soft Matter Physics, Leipzig

It is the current perception that cell contractility is solely based on a force dipole like interaction requiring stress fibers that pull between cellular adhesion sites for migratory and invading purposes. However, our observations suggest a clear differentiation between stress fiber and cortical contractility. We investigate on one hand suspended cells, lacking stress fibers and adhesion points, regarding active cortical contractility and on the other hand adhered cells, in an ECM environment displacing biomechanical properties based on oriented actin stress fiber contractility. Epithelial cells assemble a strong actomyosin cortex providing cortical tension exhibiting mechanosensitive contractile behavior. In contrast mesenchymal cell cortices behave less contractile, while they express more prominent stress fibers generating stronger contractile forces in 3D collagen gels. We propose an actomyosin rearrangement from cortical to stress fiber structures during epithelial*mesenchymal transition. We investigate the formation of cell-cell contacts up to the formation of cell spheroids, which is accompanied, for epithelial cells, with rearrangement of their contractile actomyosin cortices building up a collective actomyosin cortex surrounding the aggregates. In contrast, mesenchymal cells, do not form stable cell-cell contacts neither collective actomyosin rims, due to lacking cortical contractile potential, suggesting low surface tension like behavior.