SKM 2023 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 28: Poster Session II
BP 28.5: Poster
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG
Microfluidics-based analysis of the mobility and migration pattern of Trypanosoma brucei — •Hannes Wunderlich1, Lucas Brehm2, Jana Ritschar2, 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 via the bite of an infected tsetse fly. Active spiral movement of trypanosomes, mediated by the beating of a microtubule-driven cell-body attached flagellum, is crucial to evade the hosts immune response, i.e. swimming is a matter of survival for trypanosomes. Beyond the flagellum, microtubules also form a highly ordered, subpellicular array beneath the cell membrane, hence determining the effective elasticity of the parasite and its propulsion via the flagellum. Using soft lithography to produce well-defined two-dimensional chambers and using a temperature controlled environment, we have optimized cell tracking, shape determination, and subsequent analyses. As a result, we find that wild-type and mutant strains with altered post-translational modifications of microtubules not only feature different phenotypes but also show distinct mobility patterns, e.g. a strain-dependent swimming velocitiy and intermittency of swimming (run-and-tumble phases).