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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 5: Tissue Dynamics \& Developmental Processes
BP 5.8: Talk
Monday, March 14, 2011, 16:15–16:30, ZEU 250
Mechanotaxis in the brain — •Kristian Franze1,2, Hanno Svoboda2, Pouria Moshayedi1,3, Andreas Christ1, James Fawcett3, Christine Holt2, and Jochen Guck1 — 1Department of Physics — 2Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience — 3Brain Repair Centre, University of Cambridge, UK
Biophysics is just beginning to unravel important physical problems in biology and medicine that have been mostly overlooked for decades. While neuroscience has mainly focused on biochemical and molecular biological aspects of neuronal migration and growth, virtually nothing is known about mechanical aspects. Here we show that both neurons and glial cells, the basic building blocks of nerve tissue, respond to mechanical stimuli in their environment. Mechanosensing involves the application of forces driven by the interaction of actin and myosin II, and intracellular calcium signaling. Using culture substrates incorporating gradients of mechanical properties, we found that neuronal axons are repelled by stiff substrates while activated glial cells are attracted toward them. Applying a modified scanning force microscopy technique, we found mechanical gradients in nerve tissue along which neurons grow in vivo. Hence, our data suggest that cell growth and migration in the central nervous system are not only guided by chemical signals - as it is currently assumed - but also by the nerve tissue’s mechanical properties.