Berlin 2018 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 23: Bioimaging and Biopspectroscopy II

BP 23.6: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 14. März 2018, 16:15–16:45, H 2013

Illuminating physical cues for the early embryogenesis of a simple model organism — •Matthias Weiss — Experimental Physics I, University of Bayreuth, Germany

Embryogenesis is a remarkably robust, but still poorly understood self-organization phenomenon that is governed by a variety of biochemical and physical cues. Due to its simplicity, the small roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is a superb model organism to study the role of physics during early developmental stages. Using single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), we have explored how physical cues determine the cell arrangement during the early embryogenesis of C. elegans. In particular, we have studied the coupling of cellular volumes and cell cycle times, the nature of asymmetric cell divisions, and the mechanically driven cell arrangement process [1]. Going beyond mere imaging, we also have used pixel-wise fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (SPIM-FCS) to spatiotemporally quantify the diffusion of proteins in individual cells of the embryo in cytoplasm and on membranes [2]. As a result, we were able to monitor the emergence of intracellular diffusion and concentration gradients prior to the first cell division, which define the anterior- posterior body axis already in the single-cell state.

[1] Biophys. J. 105, 1805 (2013); Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 188101 (2016); Sci. Rep. 7, 9369 (2017).

[2] J. Phys. D 49, 044002 (2016).