Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 7: Poster Session I

BP 7.16: Poster

Monday, March 9, 2026, 15:00–17:00, P5

Mechanical Properties of Intermediate Filament Networks — •Jonas Penning, Komal Bhattacharyya, and Stefan Klumpp — Institut für Dynamik komplexer Systeme, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

The mechanical strength and dynamics of cells are essential for sustaining life. For instance, during simple activities such as breathing or walking, cells experience significant tensile stresses as they are stretched, sheared, or compressed. The cytoskeleton - a cross-linked composite network of actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments - plays a central role in determining the cells' mechanical properties. This work focuses primarily on intermediate filaments, with particular emphasis on vimentin. Compared to actin, intermediate filaments exhibit much smaller persistence lengths, but are much more stretchable with highly nonlinear elasticity. A simplified, lattice-based model of fibrous networks with variable connectivity has been developed to investigate the mechanical and physical properties of such vimentin filament networks, as the model allows for the corresponding nonlinear behavior of individual vimentin filaments under strain. Analogous to experimental approaches, the mechanical properties of the model are tested by applying normal and shear strains or stresses and analyzing the resulting responses. Stretching the networks isotropically and comparing linear and nonlinear strain-behavior of individual filaments, the model shows an internal energy decrease for nonlinear elasticity and a strain-softening quantified by a turning point in the bulk modulus with increasing network-strain.

Keywords: Intermediate filaments; Polymer networks; Numerical simulation; Nonlinear Elasticity; Cell mechanics