Fassberg Seminar: Control of mechanochemical selforganization during cell polarization

Fassberg Seminar

  • Datum: 17.04.2018
  • Uhrzeit: 11:00 - 12:00
  • Vortragende(r): Prof. Dr. Stephan Grill
  • BIOTEC, TU Dresden
  • Ort: Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie (MPIBPC)
  • Raum: Large Seminar Room, MPIbpC
  • Gastgeber: Dr. Henrik Bringmann
  • Kontakt: franziska.schmidt@mpibpc.mpg.de
Fassberg Seminar: Control of mechanochemical selforganization during cell polarization
Biological pattern formation often relies on self‐organization, integrating chemical with
mechanical patterning processes. Guiding cues ensure that the correct pattern forms at the
right time and place in development, but how they control processes of self‐organization to
steer pattern formation remains unknown. We have investigated cell polarity
establishment in Caenorhabditis elegans zygotes by combining measurements of the spatial
distribution of protein numbers and fluxes with physical theory. We have characterized the
handover from a pre‐pattern to mechanochemical self‐organization, and discovered that
guiding cues from the centrosome steer a patterning system comprised of cell polarity
proteins and the actomyosin cortex to a transition point beyond which the patterned state
becomes self‐organized. The mechanism of controlled pattern formation I will describe
integrates mechanical and molecular aspects of biological pattern formation with
guiding cues.
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