Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Poster 1
BP 7.35: Poster
Monday, September 5, 2022, 18:00–20:00, P1
Microfluidics-based analysis of the mobility and migration pattern of Trypanosoma brucei — •Hannes Wunderlich1, Lucas Brehm2, Jana Jentzsch2, Sebastian Krauss1, Klaus Ersfeld2, and Matthias Weiss1 — 1Experimental Physics I, University of Bayreuth, Germany — 2Molecular Parasitology, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Trypanosoma brucei is a unicellular parasite that causes the African sleeping sickness after entering the human bloodstream. An active movement of trypanosomes, mediated by the beating of a microtubule-powered flagellum that spirals along the elastic cell body, is crucial for escaping the host's immune response. A highly ordered, subpellicular array of aligned microtubules beneath the cell membrane determines the effective elasticity of parasite and hence its propulsion during flagellar beating. Using soft lithography to create well-definded two-dimensional chambers, we have studied the mobility and migration pattern of trypanosomes without and with genetically induced changes of posttranslational microtubule modifications. Using a set of informative measures that have been developed for (persistent) random walks, we have analyzed trypanosome trajectories that exhibit clear run-and-tumble patterns. Our data reveal that posttranslational modifications of microtubules significantly alter trypanosome mobility and migration.