Abstract
The effect of shape on the dielectric and conductometric spectra of aqueous suspensions of non-spheroidal biological cells has been investigated by means of numerical simulation methods. This work extends our previous investigation directed to biological cell systems where a superficial electric charge distribution is present on the outer interface of the cell membrane. This generalization results in a more composite dielectric spectra, where a low-frequency and a high-frequency contribution are expected. We consider different geometries, from ellipsoids, discoids, pear-shaped vesicles, cup-shaped vesicles to budded vesicles, which model a biological cell during different processes of biological relevance. The overview of the evolution of the dielectric spectra with the progressive change in the cell shape, maintaining constant the electrical properties of the different media involved and the fractional volume of the dispersed cells, offers a preliminary opportunity to separate contributions derived exclusively from the geometry to those due to the bulk and/or interface polarizations. These aspects are particularly relevant since dielectric spectroscopy of biological cell suspensions has proved its effectiveness in the characterization of the passive electrical properties of the cell membrane and also in controlled manipulations of biological systems.
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