Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Biomaterials and Biopolymers (joint session BP/CPP)
BP 7.1: Talk
Monday, March 16, 2020, 15:00–15:15, ZEU 250
Reptation of DNA nanotube tracers in semiflexible polymer networks — •Tina Händler1,2, Cary Tutmarc1,2, Martin Glaser1,2, Josef Käs1, David Smith2, and Jörg Schnauß1,2 — 1University of Leipzig, Soft Matter Physics Division — 2Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, DNA Nanodevices Unit, Leipzig
Over many decades, actin has been the gold standard for exploring the theories about mechanics and dynamics of semiflexible polymers. Unfortunately, naturally occurring biopolymers are limited in their properties such as stiffness and interaction strengths. Programmable polymers enable us to study parameters otherwise unavailable in natural systems and therefore expand theoretical approaches. Nanotubes formed from synthetic DNA strands are ideal model polymers: they are semiflexible and can be hybridized to have characteristics such as a persistence length which is similar to actin filaments or can be varied in a controllable way. Additionally, DNA nanotubes are extremely stable, making them both favorable for polymer physics experiments and material science applications. We visualize the dynamics of nanotube tracer filaments in entangled and crosslinked semiflexible biopolymer networks. The results can be used to measure the networks' tube width and mesh size. Scaling laws concerning the parameter persistence length that have been beyond reach before are accessible now. Furthermore, reptation analysis with our programmable filaments enables the test of latest predictions about the dynamics of single filaments inside entangled solutions vs. crosslinked networks.