SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 28: Poster Session II
BP 28.28: Poster
Donnerstag, 30. März 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG
Cytoskeletal Networks in Cells Under Strain — •Ruth Meyer1, Anna V. Schepers1, Peter Luley1, Jonathan Bodenschatz2, Amaury Perez Tirado2, Andreas Janshoff2, and Sarah Köster1 — 1Institute for X-Ray Physics, University of Göttingen — 2Institute for Physical Chemistry, University of Göttingen
The cytoskeleton of eukaryotes consists of three types of filaments: F-actin, microtubules and intermediate filaments (IFs). In contrast to microtubules and actin filaments, IFs are expressed in a cell-type specific manner, and keratins are found in epithelial cells. In certain cell types, the keratin filaments form a layer close to the membrane which may be referred to as an "IF-cortex". Furthermore, it is hypothesized that this IF-cortex arranges with radial spokes in a "rim-and-spokes" structure in epithelia. Based on this hypothesis, IFs and actin filaments might add complementary mechanical properties to the cortex. It was previously shown that single IFs remain undamaged even at high strains. We now ask the question of whether this unique force-extension behavior of single IFs is also relevant in the filament network within a cell. We designed an equibiaxial stretcher that can apply high strains to the cells. This setup is combined with fluorescence and atomic force microscopy enabling simultaneously imaging of the cells and measuring their stiffness during stretching. By quantitatively analyzing the force indentation curves and the microscopy images, we analyze the structure and the mechanical properties of actin and IF networks close to the cell membrane.