Abstract
The regulation of chromosome separation during mitosis is not fully understood yet. Microtubules forming mitotic spindles are targets of treatment strategies which are aimed at (i) the triggering of the apoptosis or (ii) the interruption of uncontrolled cell division. Despite these facts, only few physical models relating to the dynamics of mitotic spindles exist up to now. In this paper, we present the first electromechanical model which enables calculation of the electromagnetic field coupled to acoustic vibrations of the mitotic spindle. This electromagnetic field originates from the electrical polarity of microtubules which form the mitotic spindle. The model is based on the approximation of resonantly vibrating microtubules by a network of oscillating electric dipoles. Our computational results predict the existence of a rapidly changing electric field which is generated by either driven or endogenous vibrations of the mitotic spindle. For certain values of parameters, the intensity of the electric field and its gradient reach values which may exert a not-inconsiderable force on chromosomes which are aligned in the spindle midzone. Our model may describe possible mechanisms of the effects of ultra-short electrical and mechanical pulses on dividing cells—a strategy used in novel methods for cancer treatment.
Highlights
Mitosis is a crucial step in cell division of eukaryotic cells, i.e. those forming animals, plants, fungi, and protists
We present an electromechanical model of mitotic spindle vibrations based on the Microtubule Resonance Dipole Network Approximation (MRDNA) [34]
We performed computational predictions of the intensity of the electric field generated by acoustic vibrations of the mitotic spindle
Summary
Mitosis is a crucial step in cell division of eukaryotic cells, i.e. those forming animals, plants, fungi, and protists. During mitosis a cell separates its duplicated genetic information encoded in its chromosomes into two identical ensembles Errors in this process may lead to genetic disorders and are supposed to play a role in cancer and aging [1,2]. MTs should be able to vibrate at their natural frequency according to these studies In combination with their electrical properties, basic electrodynamic models of MTs have been recently introduced [31,32,33,34]. These models have enabled the calculation of spatial distribution and time evolution of high-frequency electric fields generated by the single vibration mode of microtubule and MT networks. The importance of this activity resides in the fact that it (i) may provide an intracellular signaling mechanism [35], (ii) may locally change the chemical reaction rates by attracting or rotating the molecular reaction partners [36]
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