The Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting and Conference, July 25-28, 2012
SMB 2012 Minisymposia
MS28: Modeling and simulations of biopolymer meshworks (MSBM) - July 28, 9:40-11:20 a.m. SESSION J
Organizers: Dietmar Ölz, (Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics (RICAM), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria); Nikolaos Sfakianakis (Applied Mathematics, JGU Mainz, Germany)
Presenters: Nikolaos Sfakianakis, Dietmar Oelz, Martin Bock, Stephanie Portet, Jan Fuhrmann
Summary. One of the main directions in the current research of both cell motility and Biopolymer meshworks, is the analysis of the mechanical stability and integrity of the cytoplasm, which is provided by the cytoskeleton, a meshwork of biopolymers. The purpose of this mini-symposium is to provide an insight to the current developments in the study of cell mechanics under the prism of Biopolym meshworks. Their importance, stems from the fact that actin-based polymers orchestrate changes in cell shape and underlying cellular functions, ranging from division to migration and wound healing. Actin-polymers also function in intracellular transport, where they serve as tracks for motor-driven transport of cargo. Among the mathematical challenges in both the modeling and the simulations lies the balancing of the conflicting demands for simplicity {necessary for systematic studies - and complexity - necessary for realistic representations of biological functions.
