SKM 2021 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Cell Mechanics, Cell Adhesion and Migration, Multicellular Systems
BP 7.3: Talk
Thursday, September 30, 2021, 15:45–16:00, H6
An active gel model for optogenetic control of cell migration — •Oliver M. Drozdowski1,2, Falko Ziebert1,2, and Ulrich S. Schwarz1,2 — 1Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, Philosophenweg 19, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany — 2BioQuant, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Optogenetics has emerged as a new powerful experimental method to control cellular processes in space and time, including actin filament polymerization and contractility of myosin II molecular motors. Here we report on a mathematical analysis of spatiotemporal activation patterns in a simple one-dimensional variant of active gel theory with the aim to predict how optogenetics can be used to control cell migration [1]. We first show that the model can describe the symmetrical flow of the actomyosin system observed in optogenetic experiments but not the long-lasting polarization required for cell migration. Motile solutions, however, become possible if cytoskeletal polymerization is included through the boundary conditions. Optogenetic activation of contraction can then initiate locomotion in a symmetrically spreading cell and strengthen motility in an asymmetrically polymerizing one. If designed appropriately, it can also arrest motility even for protrusive boundaries.
[1] https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.14636, to appear in Phys. Rev. E