Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 32: Posters: Physics of Cells
BP 32.13: Poster
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 17:15–20:00, Poster B1
Phase Transitions in Embryonic Development: How P-Granules Segregate — Jöbin Gharakhani1, •Clifford Brangwynne1, 2, Anthony Hyman2, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
In the nematode C. elegans, germ cells and their precursors carry P-granules which are aggregates of proteins and RNA. P-granules are important in the specification of germ line cells. During the first cell division of the fertilized egg, P-granules are segregated towards the posterior side and are subsequently found in the posterior daughter cell. A fundamental question is to understand the mechanisms of segregation during asymmetric cell division. It has recently been shown that P-granules segregate by preferentially nucleating and subsequently growing on the posterior side of the cell, thereby effectively localizing the granular material. This preferential condensation can be explained by a gradient which decreases the saturation point of this phase transition along the anterior-posterior axis of the cell. Using a simulation describing nucleation, droplet growth, and fusion, we study the P-granule segregation driven by a gradient of supersaturation in the cell.