Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 11: Posters: Cytoskeleton

BP 11.11: Poster

Tuesday, April 1, 2014, 09:30–12:30, P1

Mechanical Properties of Keratin Bundles in Living Cells — •Jens-Friedrich Nolting and Sarah Köster — Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen, Germany

Intermediate filaments are a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton along with microtubules and microfilaments and play a key role in cell mechanics. Here, we present a study of keratin intermediate filament bundles in living cells. Intracellular forces in combination with cytoskeletal cross-talk lead to buckling of the keratin bundles. By investigating these buckling events in situ we conclude upon the mechanical properties of the keratin bundles and their environment. In brief, we measure the buckling wavelength and the bundle diameter of the events using live cell confocal microscopy. From these data we then deduce the elastic modulus of the surrounding matrix and the persistence length of the bundle. Furthermore, we evaluate the strength of the coupling between the individual filaments inside a keratin bundle by fitting a coupling factor to our data. Our findings suggest that the coupling between the filaments within a bundle is predominantly strong but it allows for some movement of filaments with respect to each other.