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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 28: Poster Session II
BP 28.57: Poster
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG
The role of vimentin in endothelial cells under flow — •Julia Kraxner1,2, Wolfgang Giese1,2, and Holger Gerhardt1,2 — 1Integrative Vascular Biology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) — 2German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partnersite Berlin
Vascular endothelial cells (VECs) compose the inner layer of blood vessels where they need to be able to constantly sense, withstand and adapt to varying mechanical stresses. For the sensing and adaptation to mechanical stress cytoskeletal proteins, i.e. actin, microtubules and intermediate filaments, play an important role. Here, we focus on vimentin which is the most abundant intermediate filament in VECs. These cells are constantly exposed to shear stress and they response to the flow by polarizing and aligning in direction of flow. We investigate the role of vimentin in this flow response by exposing VECs to shear stress in vitro. Furthermore, experiments under flow reveal an increase of specific phosphorylation sites in vimentin. We study the role of these specific phosphorylation sites on the mechanotransduction. Therefore, we want to combine traction force microscopy under flow with mutations in vimentin which inhibit phosphorylation of specific sites. Additionally, we plan on tuning the substrate stiffness to study the effect of tissue mechanics observed in aging of the vascular system and possible effects on mechanotransduction. These insights have the potential to improve our understanding of the complex mechanism of mechanotransduction in VECs.