Morphogenesis of the force-generating machinery in cells (A13)

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2011 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 178321814

Cells regulate and control their internal structures and also mechanically communicate with the environment through forces and motions that motor proteins generate interacting with cytoskeletal networks. This project aims at elucidating the morphogenesis of the cellular force-generating machinery and its correlation with generated and transmitted forces. Using a dual optical trap coupled to a confocal microscope with cw-STED functionality, we will quantitate mechanical properties and image the 3D structure of acto-myosin stress fibers in our idealized geometry.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 937: Collective Behaviour of Soft and Biological Matter
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Heads: Dr. Florian Rehfeldt; Professor Dr. Christoph Friedrich Schmidt