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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 8: Poster Session Ia
BP 8.4: Poster
Montag, 18. März 2024, 18:00–20:30, Poster C
Keratin and actin networks in epithelial cells under uniaxial strain — •Ruben Haag1, Ruth Meyer1, Peter Luley1, Nicole Schwarz2, and Sarah Köster1 — 1Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen — 2Institute of Molecular and Cellular Anatomy, RWTH Aachen University
The cytoskeleton is mainly made up of microtubules, actin and intermediate filaments (IFs). The composition of the IF-network is cell-type specific and influences the viscoelastic properties of cells. In some epithelial cell types, the keratin IFs forms a rim close to the F-actin cortex. It is hypothesized that this so-called "IF-cortex" is linked to radial keratin spokes, forming a "rim-and-spokes"-structure. This hypothesis leads to the question of how the IF and actin cortices complement each other. Furthermore, it was previously observed that keratin IF, unlike actin filaments, survive being stretched to high strains. We now ask the question of whether this unique force-extension behavior of keratin is also relevant in whole cells, and of how both the IF and the actin cortices interact. In order to investigate the extension behavior of whole cells, we design a uniaxial cell-stretcher compatible with fluorescence and atomic force microscopy, enabling us to stretch cells up to high strains of 80%. Subsequently, we analyze the cells both in 2D and in 3D at different strains. To achieve this goal, we first deconvolve the images, then segment the individual cells and finally analyze the cell shape and the keratin-actin colocalization.
Keywords: microscopy; cell-stretching; colocalization; keratin; actin