Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 39: Cytoskeletal Filaments II
BP 39.2: Talk
Friday, March 20, 2020, 09:45–10:00, SCH A251
Development of microtentacles in suspended cells upon weakening of the actin cortex — •Lucina Kainka1,2, Reza Shaebani2, Ludger Santen2, and Franziska Lautenschläger1,2 — 1INM - Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Campus D2 2, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany — 2Saarland University, Physics Department, Campus E2 6, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) pose a significant threat due to their role in metastasis: It has been proposed that CTCs are able to escape the blood stream and reattach to the tissue by the formation of so-called microtentacles (McTNs. McTNs are microtubule based membrane protrusions with a diameter of less than 1 μm and a length of tens of μm.
In CTCs the balance of the outward growing microtubule and the contractive forces of the actin cortex is disrupted enabling microtubules to form these kind of protrusions. Using cytoskeletal drugs which are targeting the actin cortex integrity we induce McTNs even in non-cancerous RPE1 cells. We investigate the presence of microtubules and actin as well as vimentin under those conditions. Furthermore, we established a statistic over the number and lengths of McTNs depending on different drug concentrations applied.
Further experiments on the dynamics of McTNs, especially during retraction after drug wash-out, give a better insight in the role of individual cytoskeletal elements.