Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 29: Posters - Multi-Cellular Systems

BP 29.5: Poster

Tuesday, March 21, 2017, 14:00–16:00, P2-EG

A Computational model of nuclei ordering in early Drosophila embryos — •Franz Kaiser¹, Zhiyi Lv², Jörg Grosshans², and Karen Alim¹ — ¹Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Germany — ²Institute for Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

During interphase, nuclei in early Drosophila melanogaster syncytial embryos actively arrange in an ordered fashion. Interaction between nuclei in this syncytial embryo through F-actin and microtubule networks is assumed to play an important role for the establishment of nuclei order. However, the observed patterns still lack a physical explanation. Here we develop a theoretical model including passive interactions mediated by the extracellular matrix and active elements arising from microtubule dynamics to explain the observed ordering. We perform computer simulations and quantify the observed degree of orientational order. Results are compared to experimental recordings of tracked nuclei to identify mechanical model parameters. We observe how mechanical properties and nuclei order change between subsequent interphases.