Electromechanical Model for Eukaryotic Cells

Abstract

Electromechanics is important in many cellular processes, including motility, cancer metastasis, wound healing, and embryogenesis. Experiments show that cells placed in direct current electric fields are able to sense the field and direct their motion. Other experiments show that cell volume changes are important in invading cancer cells. A computational model is necessary to understand how cells respond electro-mechanically to electro-mechanical changes in their environment. The model proposed in this study considers how ion flux and water flux across the cell membrane enable a cell to regulate its size, internal pressure, and membrane voltage. This model also studies how active ion pumps, voltage gated channels, mechanosensitive channels, and water transport allow a cell to change its size when its membrane voltage is fixed during a voltage clamp experiment. Specifically, the model predicts cell volume increases during hyperpolarization and decreases during depolarization. Preliminary voltage clamp experiments suggest that the predicted size changes are observed in eukaryotic cancer cells, which validates our model.