Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 12: Posters: Imaging

BP 12.13: Poster

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

Following the topography during abscission using SICM — •Ulrich Fromme¹, Natalie Elia², and Christph F. Schmidt¹ — ¹Drittes Physikalisches Institut, Fakultät für Physik, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen — ²Department of Life Sciences and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel

The last step in the division cycle of animal cells is abscission. It is defined as the cutting of the small intracellular bridge which remains as a connection between the two daughter cells after the cytoplasm has been divided. This bridge, the so-called midbody, is of an interesting structure, as it contains dense tubulin structures which originate from the cell division- and DNA-separation process. Due to the compactness of this structure, a complex system of membrane constriction and tubulin disassembly molecules are recruited for abscission. In this study we used Scanning-Ion-Conductance-Microscopy (SICM) to create topological movies of these structures in living MDCK cells. SICM can produce images with a resolution that is superior to standard optical methods without damaging or deforming the structures. This makes it possible to acquire high-resolution images and to observe the morphological changes of the intracellular bridge during the abscission process.