Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 12: Poster 2

BP 12.7: Poster

Tuesday, September 6, 2022, 17:30–19:30, P4

Cytoskeletal Networks in Cells Under Strain — •Ruth Meyer, Anna V. Schepers, Peter Luley, and Sarah Köster — Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen

The cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells mainly consists of three types of filamentous proteins: F-actin, microtubules and intermediate filaments (IFs). In contrast to microtubules and actin filaments, IFs are expressed in a cell-type specific manner, and keratins are found in epithelial cells. In certain cell types, the IF keratin forms a layer close to the membrane, referred to as an "IF-cortex". It has been observed that this IF-cortex arranges in a "rim-and-spokes" structure in epithelia. Based on this hypothesis, IFs and actin filaments might add complementary mechanical properties to the cellular cortex. When stretching single IFs, it was previously shown that IFs remain undamaged even at high forces. We now ask the question of whether this unique force-extension behavior of single IFs is also relevant in the filament network within a cell. The experiment is conducted by seeding cells on an elastic substrate and then stretching the substrate uniaxially or equibiaxially to high strains. In combination with fluorescence and atomic force microscopy, this setup allows us to study the structure and the mechanical properties of actin and IF networks close to the cell membrane.