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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Poster Session I
BP 7.37: Poster
Montag, 9. März 2026, 15:00–17:00, P5
Microparticle traction force microscopy for DNA microparticles based on experimental and computational advances — •Bastian K. Kraus1,2, Simon Brauburger1,2, Tobias Walther3, Tobias Abele3, Kerstin Göpfrich3, and Ulrich S. Schwarz1,2 — 1Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP), Heidelberg University — 2BioQuant, Heidelberg University — 3Center for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), Heidelberg University
Traction force microscopy quantifies cellular forces by inferring traction fields from the displacements of fiducial markers embedded in soft elastic substrates. Microparticle traction force microscopy extends this concept by employing elastic spherical microparticles as finite-sized force sensors. Traction fields can be recovered by two methods: the volume method, which tracks nanoparticles inside the microparticle, and the surface method, which only considers the deformed microparticle surface. Here, the two approaches are compared systematically, each as a pipeline combining image processing and elasticity theory. Moreover, they are both implemented in the same experimental system, using soft DNA microparticles with different fluorescent labels, which are held and deformed in micropatterned wells. We find that the two methods can lead to similar results, but have different advantages. While the volume method requires fewer assumptions in the elasticity equations, the surface method is less sensitive to imaging artifacts.
Keywords: Microparticle traction force microscopy; Linear elasticity theory; Computer simulations; DNA microparticles; Volume and surface method