Nonlinear ionic pulses along microtubules

Microtubules are cylindrically shaped cytoskeletal biopolymers that are essential for cell motility, cell division and intracellular trafficking. Here, we investigate their polyelectrolyte character that plays a very important role in ionic transport throughout the intra-cellular environment. The mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Soft matter and biological physics, 2011-05, Vol.34 (5), p.49-49, Article 49
Main Authors: Sekulić, D. L., Satarić, B. M., Tuszynski, J. A., Satarić, M. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and Medical Physics
Biological and medical sciences
Biophysics
Cell cycle, cell proliferation
Cell Division
Cell Movement
Cell physiology
Cell structures and functions
Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Complex Systems
Cytoskeleton, cytoplasm. Intracellular movements
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Ion Transport
Ions - chemistry
Ions - metabolism
Microtubules - chemistry
Microtubules - metabolism
Models, Biological
Molecular and cellular biology
Nanotechnology
Neurons - chemistry
Neurons - metabolism
Nonlinear Dynamics
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Polymer Sciences
Regular Article
Soft and Granular Matter
Surfaces and Interfaces
Thin Films
Tubulin - chemistry
Tubulin - metabolism
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Summary:Microtubules are cylindrically shaped cytoskeletal biopolymers that are essential for cell motility, cell division and intracellular trafficking. Here, we investigate their polyelectrolyte character that plays a very important role in ionic transport throughout the intra-cellular environment. The model we propose demonstrates an essentially nonlinear behavior of ionic currents which are guided by microtubules. These features are primarily due to the dynamics of tubulin C-terminal tails which are extended out of the surface of the microtubule cylinder. We also demonstrate that the origin of nonlinearity stems from the nonlinear capacitance of each tubulin dimer. This brings about conditions required for the creation and propagation of solitonic ionic waves along the microtubule axis. We conclude that a microtubule plays the role of a biological nonlinear transmission line for ionic currents. These currents might be of particular significance in cell division and possibly also in cognitive processes taking place in nerve cells.
ISSN:1292-8941
1292-895X
DOI:10.1140/epje/i2011-11049-0