BPCPPDYSOE21 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 24: Poster B: Active Biological Matter, Cell Mechanics, Systems Biology, Computational Biophysics, etc.
BP 24.25: Poster
Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 16:00–18:30, BPp
Computational Modeling of Nuclear Blebs — •Silvia Bonfanti1, Maria Chiara Lionetti2, Maria Rita Fumagalli3, Francesc Font-Clos1, Stefano Zapperi1,4, and Caterina A.M. La Porta2,3 — 1Center for Complexity and Biosystems Department of Physics, University of Milan, Milano, Italy — 2Center for Complexity and Biosystems Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Milano, Italy — 3CNR-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Biophysics institute, Genova, Italy — 4CNR-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l'Energia, Milano, Italy
The morphology of the nucleus of eukaryotic cells is determined by the complex interactions among the nuclear lamina forming the nuclear scaffold, the internal chromatin filaments and the coupling with the external cytoskeleton. It is known that nuclear morphological alterations such as blebs are often associated with pathological conditions such as Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. Here, we investigate the role of mechanical factors in nuclear morphological alterations constructing a model of the cell nucleus, consisting of a flexible coarse-grained shell representing nuclear envelope and lamina endowed with stretching and bending rigidity, coupled to a set of coarse-grained polymers representing chromatin and also to a set of oscillating points modeling contractions of the cytoskeleton. We compare the simulations results with experimental results on a cellular model of progeria and shed light on the important role played by chromatin and nuclear tethering in determining nuclear morphology and fluctuations.