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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Poster Session Ia

BP 8.5: Poster

Montag, 18. März 2024, 18:00–20:30, Poster C

Active microrheology on in vitro cytoskeletal networks — •Shanay Zafari, Pratima Sawant, and Sarah Köster — Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen, Germany

The cytoskeleton plays a crucial role in maintaining cell shape and overall structural integrity. It consists of three types of filaments including actin filaments (AFs) and intermediate filaments (IFs). Notably, IFs stand out for their exceptional extensibility and remarkable resistance against rupture at high strains, while AFs break at low strains. Composite networks of these two different kinds of filaments may lead to emergent mechanical properties. Here, we examine the mechanical properties of actin and vimentin networks separately by performing active microrheology with optical tweezers. We quantify the viscoelastic properties of the networks by fitting the force-strain curves with a power-law decay function. Our results indicate different viscoelastic behavior for pure actin and pure vimentin networks. This sets the stage for a comprehensive study of combined networks in order to understand the role of intermediate filaments in composite cytoskeletal networks at high strain.

Keywords: cytoskeleton; intermediate filaments; actin filaments; optical tweezers; active microrheology