Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 19: Cell Mechanics 2

BP 19.1: Talk

Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 15:00–15:15, H16

Light, proteins, and shape: exploiting protein pattern formation for light-controlled oocyte deformations — Jinghui Liu², •Tom Burkart¹, Alexander Ziepke¹, Erwin Frey¹, and Nikta Fakhri² — ¹Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics (ASC) and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany — ²Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139

To coordinate shape deformations, in particular cell division, cells rely on chemical reaction networks that process spatial and temporal cues, such as cell cycle signals, and control the mechanical activity that generates the required deformation. In starfish oocytes, a Rho-GTP protein pattern on the cell membrane regulates actomyosin contractility which induces large-scale cell deformations during meiotic anaphase. By engineering optogenetic activators of Rho-GTP, the native control mechanism can be hijacked to manually trigger the actomyosin contractility and thereby deform the oocyte even before entering meiotic anaphase. We study how such an artificial guiding cue is processed by the mechanochemical machinery in starfish oocytes. We combine simulations of the protein reaction-diffusion dynamics with the dynamic shape deformation of the oocyte to predict spatio-temporal light activation patterns that produce custom cell deformations. Our results contribute to the development of an overarching theoretical framework that allows to study and design minimal artificial cells capable of self-regulated and externally controlled shape changes.