Invited Talk

Control of Traction Forces, Force Propagation between Cells and Cell Migration by Optogenetics

Heidelberg University, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Philosophenweg 19, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

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Actomyosin contractility lies at the heart of many essential cellular processes, including cell adhesion, division and migration. Optogenetic activation of the Rho-pathway has emerged as a very powerful new tool to dissect the underlying mechanisms. Its high precision in space and time informs mathematical models, in particular when combined with adhesive micropatterning and traction force microscopy. We use a two-dimensional model for cells as thin and actively contracting material to demonstrate how cell size, shape and adhesion structure together determine how internally generated force is transmitted to the substrate [1] and to neighboring cells [2]. We also present a rigorous mathematical analysis of a one-dimensional active gel model that explains how cell migration can be controlled by optogenetic activation of contractility, including switches between sessile and motile states and reversals of the direction of migration [3].