Regensburg 2022 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 3: Cell Mechanics 1

BP 3.3: Vortrag

Montag, 5. September 2022, 10:15–10:30, H15

Phase field model for the mechanics and migration of nucleated cells — •Robert Chojowski, Ulrich S. Schwarz, and Falko Ziebert — Institute for Theoretical Physics and BioQuant, Heidelberg University, Germany

Eukaryotic cells are built from many different constituents of varying sizes and properties. Of these organelles, the nucleus is by far the largest one. During recent years, it has become clear that many cellular functions are modulated by the nucleus, including mechanosensing of the environment and cell migration in complex environments. Its stiffness has been determined by AFM and micropipette experiments to be up to 10-fold higher than the stiffness of the surrounding cytoplasm. Despite its physical and biological importance, the nucleus is often neglected in models for cell mechanics and migration. Here we extend our reversible elastic phase field method [1] by a compartment with nuclear elasticity. We validate our numerical implementation by comparing to the analytical solution of a homogeneously adhered disk-like cell. We then simulate the effect of the nucleus for several interesting experimental setups, in particular for cell migration through a narrow channel.

[1] R. Chojowski, U.S. Schwarz, F. Ziebert, Reversible elastic phase field approach and application to cell monolayers, Eur. Phys. J. E 43, 63 (2020)