Two component model of microtubules and continuum approximation

Abstract

In the present work, we study the nonlinear dynamics of microtubules, the basic components of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. We introduce a two-component model describing tangential oscillations of dimers. A crucial nonlinear differential equation is solved using continuum approximation. We show that the dynamics of microtubules can be explained in terms of kink and antikink solitary waves. We used two mathematical procedures, that is the tangent hyperbolic function method and, more general, the simplest equation method. It is shown that both procedures bring about equal solutions.