Regensburg 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 38: Neurosciences

BP 38.2: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 9. März 2016, 10:00–10:30, H45

The mechanical control of CNS development and functioning — •Kristian Franze — University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Throughout life, central nervous system (CNS) cells migrate and grow over large distances. During development and pathological processes, they are exposed to a multitude of signals determining where to move. Despite the fact that forces are involved in any kind of cell motion, our current understanding of the mechanical interactions of CNS cells and their environment is very limited. We used compliant cell culture substrates, traction force microscopy and calcium imaging to investigate how neurons and glial cells interact with their mechanical environment. Growth and migration velocities, directionality, cellular forces as well as neuronal fasciculation and maturation all significantly depended on substrate stiffness. Moreover, when grown on substrates incorporating linear stiffness gradients, axon bundles turned towards soft substrates while glial cells migrated in the opposite direction. In vivo atomic force microscopy measurements revealed stiffness gradients in developing brain tissue, which axons followed as well towards soft. Interfering with brain stiffness and mechanosensitive ion channels in vivo both led to similar aberrant neuronal growth patterns with reduced fasciculation and pathfinding errors, strongly suggesting that neuronal growth is not only controlled by chemical signals, as it is currently assumed, but also by the tissue's local mechanical properties.