How cells measure symmetry: nuclear positioning in plants

植物细胞被赋予了一种先天的方向性，这种方向性调节着它们的形态发生。在组织环境中，他们调整这种方向性以最小化机械张力。有一个争论可以追溯到几乎一个世纪，他们是否使用机械或化学线索，以探索他们的环境，并调整他们的方向性。在真实的组织中，很难将生物物理学与生物化学分开。我们现在已经产生了一个实验模型，通过这个模型，我们可以诱导那些已经被剥夺了方向性的植物细胞（通过化学去除它们的细胞壁）重新产生方向性。此外，我们成功地将该模型整合到一个微系统装置中，在那里我们用微几何线索（使用排列在微流体装置中的矩形微容器）来对抗这些白板Rasa。该项目使用该系统与PALM显微镜相结合，以测试细胞核的运动（由细胞骨架和特定驱动蛋白引导）作为诱导极性的原始事件的模型。

Plant cells are endowed with an innate directionality that regulates their morphogenesis. In a tissue context, they adjust this directionality to minimise mechanical tensions. There is a debate dating back for almost a century, whether they use mechanical or chemical cues to explore their environment and to align their directionality. In a real tissue, it is difficult to separate biophysics from biochemistry. We have now generated an experimental model, by which we can induce plant cells that have been stripped from their directionality (by chemical removal of their cell wall) to regenerate a directionality de-novo. We have, further, succeeded to integrate this model into a microsystemic device, where we confront such tabula rasa cells with a microgeometrical cue (using rectangular microvessels arranged in a microfluidic set-up). The project uses this system in combination with PALM microscopy to test the model that the movement of the nucleus (guided by cytoskeleton and specific kinesins) acts as primordial event for the induction of polarity.