BPCPPDYSOE21 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 18: Cell Mechanics IV

BP 18.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 11:40–12:00, BPc

Development of microtentacles in suspended cells upon weakening of the actin cortex — •Lucina Kainka, Reza Shaebani, Ludger Santen, and Franziska Lautenschläger — Saarland University, Center for Biophysics, 66123 Saarbrücken

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.

Scanning electron microscopy images of the cytoskeleton beneath the plasma membrane of McTNs give further insight into their cytoskeletal composition.