ICS-2 Seminar: Falko Ziebert - Modeling crawling cell movement

Universität Freiburg      

Understanding the physical mechanisms of the motility of single and ensembles of cells and their relation to substrate properties is essential e.g. for morphogenesis or wound healing. Clearly it would be desirable to have predictive modeling tools for cells moving on substrates, that may be deformable and/or heterogeneous.                                 

We present an effective computational model [1-4], based on the cell's shape deformation mediated by the actin cytoskeleton, coupled to the dynamics of adhesion site formation and the elastic response of the substrate. We reproduce and analyze key experimental observations, like stick-slip and more complex motion with concomitant shape oscillations.

The model also has been investigated for substrates with patterned adhesiveness (cf. Fig a,b) and inhomogeneous elasticity, questions which are relevant for the design of selective bio-active substrates for e.g. cell sorting, and the understanding of durotaxis. Finally, we show how to generalize the model to multiple cells and study collective behavior, both in an open domain and on a confined adhesive spot (cf. Fig c).

[1] Ziebert F, Swaminathan S, Aranson IS, J. R. Soc. Interface 9 (2012) 1084.

[2] Ziebert F, Aranson IS, PLOS ONE 8 (2013) e64511.

[3] Löber J, Ziebert F, Aranson IS, Soft Matt. 10, 1365 (2014).

[4] Löber J, Ziebert F, Aranson IS, Sci. Rep. 5, 9172 (2015).       

Kontakt

Gerhard Gompper

Telefon: +49 2461 61-4012

Fax:  +49 2461 61-3180

E-Mail: g.gompper@fz-juelich.de