Regensburg 2022 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 12: Poster 2
BP 12.26: Poster
Dienstag, 6. September 2022, 17:30–19:30, P4
The role of vimentin phosphorylation in mechanotransduction — •Julia Kraxner1,2 and Holger Gerhardt1,2 — 1Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin — 2German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK)
Vascular endothelial cells (VECs) need to be able to constantly sense, withstand and adapt to varying mechanical stresses. One way cells adapt their mechanics to these varying requirements is through differential expression of cytoskeletal proteins. Here, we focus on the intermediate filament vimentin and introduce post-translational modifications (PTMs). Interestingly, PTMs provide a mechanism for mechanical modulation on short time scales. We study the impact of one such PTM, phosphorylation and one effect of phosphorylation is, for example, the disassembly of intermediate filaments. Experiments on VECs under flow reveal an increase of specific phosphorylation sites in vimentin. We investigate the role of these phosphorylation sites on the mechanotransduction. Therefore, we want to combine traction force microscopy under flow with mutations in vimentin which inhibit phosphorylation of specific sites. Additionally, we plan on tuning the substrate stiffness to study the effect of tissue mechanics observed in aging of the vascular system and possible effects on mechanotransduction. These insights have the potential to improve our understanding of the complex mechanism of mechanotransduction in vascular endothelial cells.