Regensburg 2022 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 26: Focus Session: Bioinspired Systems

BP 26.6: Vortrag

Donnerstag, 8. September 2022, 16:45–17:00, H15

Dynamic formation and size control of cell-like compartments — •Sebastian W. Krauss, Pierre-Yves Gires, Mithun Thampi, and Matthias Weiss — Experimental Physics I, University of Bayreuth, Germany

A fundamental feature of living matter is its spatial organization into individual units, with the replication of template-like entities during cell division supposedly being the most familiar process linked to this feature. Yet, spatially ordered arrays of cell-like compartments ('protocells') also emerge spontaneously in homogeneous, isotropic Xenopus egg extracts in the absence of template structures and genetic material. We show that the geometry of these patterns has properties of a random-packing problem, i.e. randomly placed seeds grow at a uniform rate until competition for material becomes limiting. We also show that the pattern undergoes a coarse-graining over time while maintaining its overall organization. Moreover, fluorescence imaging reveals the cytoskeleton to be the driving force behind the compartmentalization. In line with this notion, a perturbed dynamics of microtubules is observed to result in strongly reduced protocell areas. Altogether, our experimental observations suggest that space compartmentalization in living matter relies on few but robust generic physico-chemical principles.