Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences - Statistical Physics and Nonlinear Dynamics & Stochastic Processes

Jakob Löber

  • When Jul 10, 2014 from 03:00 to 04:30
  • Where New 15, R 3'101
  • Attendees Jakob Löber
  • iCal

Self-propelled motion, emerging spontaneously or in response to external cues, is a hallmark of living organisms. Self-propulsion relies on the force transfer to the surrounding. While self-propelled swimming in the bulk of liquids is fairly well characterized, many open questions remain in our understanding of self-propelled motion of cells along substrates. Here we present a phenomenological model for crawling cells based on an advected phase field model and other reaction-diffusion equations. The force transfer from the cell to the substrate is explicitly taken into account, giving rise to complex modes of cell movement such as “bipedal” motion and “stick-slip” motion. The model captures the generic structure of the traction force distribution and faithfully reproduces experimental observations, like the response of a cell on a gradient in substrate elasticity (durotaxis). Collective states of motion such as concerted rotation arises for multiple interacting cells on patterned substrates.