Modeling assemblies of biological cells exposed to electric fields.

Abstract

Gap junctions are channels through the cell membrane that electrically connect the interiors of neighboring cells. Most cells are connected by gap junctions, and gaps play an important role in local intercellular communication by allowing for the exchange of certain substances between cells. Gap communication has been observed to change when cells are exposed to electromagnetic (EM) fields. In this work, we examine the behavior of cells connected by gap junctions when exposed to electric fields, in order to better understand the influence of the presence of gap junctions on cell behavior. This may provide insights into the interactions between biological cells and weak, low-frequency EM fields. Specifically, we model gaps in greater detail than is usually the case, and use the finite element method (FEM) to solve the resulting geometrically complex cell models. The responses of gap-connected cell configurations to both dc and time harmonic fields are investigated and compared with those of similarly shaped (equivalent) cells. To further assess the influence of the gap junctions, properties such as gap size, shape, and conductivity are varied. Our findings indicate that simple models, such as equivalent cells, are sufficient for describing the behavior of small gap-connected cell configurations exposed to dc electric fields. With larger configurations, some adjustments to the simple models are necessary to account for the presence of the gaps. The gap junctions complicate the frequency behavior of gap-connected cell assemblies. An equivalent cell exhibits low-pass behavior. Gaps effectively add a bandstop filter in series with the low-pass behavior, thus lowering the relaxation frequency. The characteristics of this bandstop filter change with changes to gap properties. Comparison of the FEM results to those obtained with simple models indicates that more complex models are required to represent gap-connected cells.