Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 26: Focus: Biological Cells in Microfluidics I

BP 26.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 15:45–16:00, SCH A251

Microfluidic platforms to study forces on model cells — •Tom Robinson — Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany

Biological cells in their natural environment experience a variety of external forces such as fluidic shear stresses, osmotic pressures, and mechanical loads. The response of cell membranes to such forces is of great interest and model systems such as giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) offer the chance to investigate individual components without interference from cellular complexity (Robinson, Adv Biosyst., 2019). However, being able to handle and apply forces to these delicate objects in a controllable manner is non-trivial. Therefore, we present several microfluidic platforms to capture, analyse, and apply forces to GUVs. First, we present microfluidic devices for their high capacity capture and isolation (Yandralli & Robinson, Lab Chip, 2019). Lipid rafts are thought to play an important role in the spatial organization of membrane proteins. Therefore, GUVs with membrane domains are used as models to explore their behaviour in response to external forces. We use a valve-based system to apply precise fluidic shear stresses to vesicles (Sturzenegger, Robinson, et al. Soft Matter, 2016) and a device with an integrated micro-stamp to mechanically compress GUVs to study the effects that deformation has on lipid rafts (Robinson & Dittrich, ChemBioChem 2019).