No Cover Image

Journal article 960 views 235 downloads

Simulations on an undamped electromechanical vibration of microtubules in cytosol

Si Li, Chengyuan Wang Orcid Logo, Perumal Nithiarasu Orcid Logo

Applied Physics Letters, Volume: 114, Issue: 25, Start page: 253702

Swansea University Authors: Chengyuan Wang Orcid Logo, Perumal Nithiarasu Orcid Logo

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1063/1.5097204

Abstract

This letter aims to study the electromechanical vibration of microtubules submerged in cytosol. The microtubule-cytosol interface is established in molecular dynamics simulations, and the electrically excited vibrations of microtubules in cytosol are studied based on a molecular mechanics model. The...

Full description

Published in: Applied Physics Letters
ISSN: 0003-6951 1077-3118
Published: 2019
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa50887
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract: This letter aims to study the electromechanical vibration of microtubules submerged in cytosol. The microtubule-cytosol interface is established in molecular dynamics simulations, and the electrically excited vibrations of microtubules in cytosol are studied based on a molecular mechanics model. The simulations show that the solid-liquid interface with a nanoscale gap significantly reduces the viscous damping of cytosol on microtubule vibration. Specifically, as far as the radial breathing modes are concerned, cytosol behaves nearly as a rigid body and thus has a very small damping effect on the radial breathing mode of microtubules. This distinctive feature of the radial breathing modes arises from its extremely small amplitude (<0.1 Å), and the relatively large gap between microtubules and cytosol (2.5 Å) is due to the van der Waals interaction. Such a nearly undamped megahertz microtubule vibration excited by an electrical magnetic field may play an important role in designing microtubule-based biosensors, developing novel treatments of diseases, and facilitating signal transduction in cells.
Issue: 25
Start Page: 253702

Similar Items