The determinants of spinal cord mechanics in homeostasis (B03)

• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 460333672

B03 aims at systematically quantifying the mechanical tissue properties of the zebrafish spinal cord, deciphering their determinants, and identifying their relevance for tissue homeostasis. In vivo Brillouin microscopy on living zebrafish will be combined with ex vivo measurements using both Brillouin microscopy and AFM-enabled indentation on sectioned tissue. Biochemical and (opto)genetic manipulation of the spinal cord tissue as well as structural and compositional analyses thereof will ultimately contribute to a database from which a distinct mechanical phenotype of the spinal cord tissue will be predictable and tuneable at will.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1540: Exploring Brain Mechanics (EBM): Understanding, engineering and exploiting mechanical properties and signals in central nervous system development, physiology and pathology
• Applicant Institution: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Jochen Guck; Dr. Stephanie Möllmert