Berlin 2024 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Poster Session Ia

BP 8.6: Poster

Monday, March 18, 2024, 18:00–20:30, Poster C

Response of confined vimentin intermediate filament networks to applied strain — •Pratima Sawant, Shanay Zafari, and Sarah Köster — Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen, Germany

Eukaryotic cells undergo high strains during division, motility, wound healing and numerous other cellular processes. The mechanical integrity of cells under these conditions is maintained by the cytoskeleton, mainly comprising actin filaments, intermediate filaments (IFs), and microtubules. Among these three filament types, IFs are the most extensible ones. However, the role of IFs in modulating the mechanical response of cells under strain still remains unclear. In vitro studies on single vimentin IFs show that they exhibit tensile memory and can dissipate more than 70% of the input energy. Since these filaments form networks in cells, it is crucial to extend this analysis to study network behaviour. Here, we present a microfluidic device that is compatible with fluorescence microscopy. We image reconstituted networks of vimentin encapsulated in microfluidic droplets. Flowing these droplets through constricted channels ensures the application of a global strain. Furthermore, the networks are suspended within the droplets and not attached to a substrate in this set-up. Thus, this approach enables us to probe the mechanical properties of vimentin IF networks in a confined environment with the ability to manipulate the degree and nature of strain and buffer conditions.

Keywords: microfluidics; cytoskeleton; vimentin intermediate filaments; droplets