Electric fields generated by synchronized oscillations of microtubules, centrosomes and chromosomes regulate the dynamics of mitosis and meiosis

The electrical properties of isolated microtubules

This study examines the electrical properties of isolated brain microtubules (MTs), which are long hollow cylinders assembled from αβ-tubulin dimers that form cytoskeletal structures engaged in several functions. MTs are implicated in sensory functions in cilia and flagella and cellular activities that range from cell motility, vesicular traffic, and neuronal processes to cell division in the centrosomes and centrioles. We determined the electrical properties of the MTs with the loose patch clamp technique in either the presence or absence of the MT stabilizer Paclitaxel. We observed electrical oscillations at different holding potentials that responded accordingly in amplitude and polarity. At zero mV in symmetrical ionic conditions, a single MT radiated an electrical power of 10-17 W. The spectral analysis of the time records disclosed a single fundamental peak at 39 Hz in the Paclitaxel-stabilized MTs. However, a richer oscillatory response and two mean conductances were observed in the non-Paclitaxel MTs. The findings evidence that the brain MTs are electrical oscillators that behave as "ionic-based" transistors to generate, propagate, and amplify electrical signals.

Electromagnetic interactions in regulations of cell behaviors and morphogenesis

Emerging evidence indicates that the cellular electromagnetic field regulates the fundamental physics of cell biology. The electromagnetic oscillations and synchronization of biomolecules triggered by the internal and external pulses serve as the physical basis of the cellular electromagnetic field. Recent studies have indicated that centrosomes, a small organelle in eukaryotic cells that organize spindle microtubules during mitosis, also function as a nano-electronic generator in cells. Additionally, cellular electromagnetic fields are defined by cell types and correlated to the epigenetic status of the cell. These interactions between tissue-specific electromagnetic fields and chromatin fibers of progenitor cells regulate cell differentiation and organ sizes. The same mechanism is implicated in the regulation of tissue homeostasis and morphological adaptation in evolution. Intercellular electromagnetic interactions also regulate the migratory behaviors of cells and the morphogenesis programs of neural circuits. The process is closely linked with centrosome function and intercellular communication of the electromagnetic fields of microtubule filaments. Clearly, more and more evidence has shown the importance of cellular electromagnetic fields in regulatory processes. Furthermore, a detailed understanding of the physical nature of the inter- and intracellular electromagnetic interactions will better our understanding of fundamental biological questions and a wide range of biological processes.

Brain Microtubule Electrical Oscillations-Empirical Mode Decomposition Analysis

Microtubules (MTs) are essential cytoskeletal polymers of eukaryote cells implicated in various cell functions, including cell division, cargo transfer, and cell signaling. MTs also are highly charged polymers that generate electrical oscillations that may underlie their ability to act as nonlinear transmission lines. However, the oscillatory composition and time-frequency differences of the MT electrical oscillations have not been identified. Here, we applied the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) to bovine brain MT sheet recordings to determine the number and fundamental frequencies of the Intrinsic Modes Functions (IMF) and evaluate their energetic contribution to the electrical signal. As previously reported, raw signals were obtained from cow brain MTs (Cantero et al. Sci Rep 6:27143, 2016), sampled, filtered, and subjected to signal decomposition from representative experiments. Filtered signals (200 Hz) allowed us to identify either six or seven IMFs. The reconstructed tracings faithfully resembled the original signals, with identifiable frequency peaks. To extend the analysis to obtain time-frequency information and the energy implicated in each IMF, we applied the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) and the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) to the same samples. The analyses disclosed the presence of more fundamental frequency peaks than initially reported and evidenced the advantages and disadvantages of each transform. The study indicates that the EMD is a robust approach to quantifying signal decomposition of brain MT oscillations and suggests novel similarities with human brain wave electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. The evidence points to the potentially fundamental role of MT oscillations in brain electrical activity.

Centrosome as a micro-electronic generator in live cell

Centrosome, composed of two centrioles arranged in an orthogonal configuration, is an indispensable cellular organelle for mitosis. 130 years after its discovery, the structural-functional relationship of centrosome is still obscure. Encouraged by the telltale signs of the "Mouse and Magnet experiment", Paul Schafer pioneered in the research on electromagnetism of centriole with electron microscopy(EM) in the late 1960s. Followed by the decades-long slow progression of the field with sporadic reports indicating the electromagnetisms of mitosis. Piecing together the evidences, we generated a mechanistic model for centrosome function during mitosis, in which centrosome functions as an electronic generator. In particular, the spinal rotations of centrioles transform the cellular chemical energy into cellular electromagnetic energy. The model is strongly supported by multiple experimental evidences. It offers an elegant explanation for the self-organized orthogonal configuration of the two centrioles in a centrosome, that is through the dynamic electromagnetic interactions of both centrioles of the centrosome.

Effect of static magnetic field on DNA synthesis: The interplay between DNA chirality and magnetic field left-right asymmetry

Interactions between magnetic fields (MFs) and living cells may stimulate a large variety of cellular responses to a MF, while the underlying intracellular mechanisms still remain a great puzzle. On a fundamental level, the MF - cell interaction is affected by the two broken symmetries: (a) left-right (LR) asymmetry of the MF and (b) chirality of DNA molecules carrying electric charges and subjected to the Lorentz force when moving in a MF. Here we report on the chirality-driven effect of static magnetic fields (SMFs) on DNA synthesis. This newly discovered effect reveals how the interplay between two fundamental features of symmetry in living and inanimate nature-DNA chirality and the inherent features of MFs to distinguish the left and right-manifests itself in different DNA synthesis rates in the upward and downward SMFs, consequently resulting in unequal cell proliferation for the two directions of the field. The interplay between DNA chirality and MF LR asymmetry will provide fundamental knowledge for many MF-induced biological phenotypes.

Intense Pulsed Electric Fields Denature Urease Protein

Background: This article describes the effects of nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) on the structure and enzyme activity of three types of proteins. Materials and Methods: Intense (up to 300 kV/cm) 5-ns-long electrical pulses were applied for 500 times at 3 Hz to solutions of lysozyme, albumin, and urease. We analyzed covalent bonds (peptide bonds and disulfide bonds) of lysozyme and albumin, and also the tertiary and quaternary structures of urease as well as urease activity. Results: The results indicated deformation of both the quaternary and tertiary structures of urease upon exposure to an electric field with an amplitude of 250 kV/cm or higher, whereas no structural changes were observed in lysozyme or albumin, even at 300 kV/cm. The enzyme activity of urease also decreased at field strengths of 250 kV/cm or higher. Conclusion: Our experiments demonstrated that intense nsPEFs physically affected the conformation and function of some types of proteins. Such intense electric fields often occur in cell membranes when exposed to a moderate pulsed electric field.

Communication of the Cell Periphery with the Golgi Apparatus: A Hypothesis

The Golgi apparatus plays a central role in the numerous traffic tasks in cells. Whereas the well-investigated chemical signaling is sufficient to explain the information processes in the secretory output of cells, it is insufficient to do that for the substitution of structural elements in the three-dimensional space of the cell. Here we review recent work (Jaross, Front Biosci 23:940-946, 2018) suggesting that molecular vibration patterns of those macromolecules which have to be exchanged are recognized by molecules in the Golgi via resonance of the electromagnetic fingerprints. That results in the activation of specific molecules and induction of the whole substitution process. For bridging intracellular distances, the IR radiation must be coherent. It is discussed that coherence is achieved by chemical reaction during the changing process of the molecule along with the quasicrystalline structure of the neighboring water molecules. Several aspects of the relevance of that signaling to the direct interactions of molecules during various intracellular processes are discussed.

Simulation of electric fields generated from microtubule vibrations

Microtubules are tubular proteins that form part of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells. Because of their unique mechanical properties, many studies have theorized microtubules could show high-frequency mechanical vibrations. Others have further suggested these vibrations of the electrically polar microtubules could be a source of electric fields inside the cell that could serve some biological function, such as a role in organizing mitosis or also possibly in cell-to-cell communication. In this work, we use a transient method to simulate the electric fields that would be generated from a single microtubule supposing they could sustain vibrations. We evaluate the biological significance of the electric fields and the potential energy microtubules might exert on one another. Our simulation method allows us to evaluate vibrational modes that have not previously been studied. The simulations suggest the acoustic branch flexing mode would actually be the most electrically active. Our results suggest a single vibrating microtubule could potentially exert significant forces (those that exceed thermal energy) on biological dipoles or charges at distances larger then the Debye length, on the order of 10nm from the surface of the microtubule, but interaction is not likely at greater distances.

Bundles of Brain Microtubules Generate Electrical Oscillations

Microtubules (MTs) are long cylindrical structures of the cytoskeleton that control cell division, intracellular transport, and the shape of cells. MTs also form bundles, which are particularly prominent in neurons, where they help define axons and dendrites. MTs are bio-electrochemical transistors that form nonlinear electrical transmission lines. However, the electrical properties of most MT structures remain largely unknown. Here we show that bundles of brain MTs spontaneously generate electrical oscillations and bursts of electrical activity similar to action potentials. Under intracellular-like conditions, voltage-clamped MT bundles displayed electrical oscillations with a prominent fundamental frequency at 39 Hz that progressed through various periodic regimes. The electrical oscillations represented, in average, a 258% change in the ionic conductance of the MT structures. Interestingly, voltage-clamped membrane-permeabilized neurites of cultured mouse hippocampal neurons were also capable of both, generating electrical oscillations, and conducting the electrical signals along the length of the structure. Our findings indicate that electrical oscillations are an intrinsic property of brain MT bundles, which may have important implications in the control of various neuronal functions, including the gating and regulation of cytoskeleton-regulated excitable ion channels and electrical activity that may aid and extend to higher brain functions such as memory and consciousness.

Functional roles of three cues that provide nonsynaptic modes of communication in the brain: electromagnetic field, oxygen, and carbon dioxide

The integrative actions of the brain depend on the exchange of information among its computational elements. Hence, this phenomenon plays the key role in driving the complex dynamics of the central nervous system, in which true computations interact with noncomputational dynamical processes to generate brain representations of the body and of the body in the external world, and hence the finalistic behavior of the organism. In this context, it should be pointed out that, besides the intercellular interactions mediated by classical electrochemical signals, other types of interactions, namely, "cues" and "coercions," also appear to be exploited by the system to achieve its function. The present review focuses mainly on cues present in the environment and on those produced by cells of the body, which "pervade" the brain and contribute to its dynamics. These cues can also be metabolic substrates, and, in most cases, they are of fundamental importance to brain function and the survival of the entire organism. Three of these highly pervasive cues will be analyzed in greater detail, namely, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and electromagnetic fields (EMF). Special emphasis will be placed on EMF, since several authors have suggested that these highly pervasive energy fluctuations may play an important role in the global integrative actions of the brain; hence, EMF signaling may transcend classical connectionist models of brain function. Thus the new concept of "broadcasted neuroconnectomics" has been introduced, which transcends the current connectomics view of the brain.

Unraveling the mechanistic effects of electric field stimulation towards directing stem cell fate and function: A tissue engineering perspective

Electric field (EF) stimulation can play a vital role in eliciting appropriate stem cell response. Such an approach is recently being established to guide stem cell differentiation through osteogenesis/neurogenesis/cardiomyogenesis. Despite significant recent efforts, the biophysical mechanisms by which stem cells sense, interpret and transform electrical cues into biochemical and biological signals still remain unclear. The present review critically analyses the variety of EF stimulation approaches that can be employed to evoke appropriate stem cell response and also makes an attempt to summarize the underlying concepts of this notion, placing special emphasis on stem cell based tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This review also discusses the major signaling pathways and cellular responses that are elicited by electric stimulation, including the participation of reactive oxygen species and heat shock proteins, modulation of intracellular calcium ion concentration, ATP production and numerous other events involving the clustering or reassembling of cell surface receptors, cytoskeletal remodeling and so on. The specific advantages of using external electric stimulation in different modalities to regulate stem cell fate processes are highlighted with explicit examples, in vitro and in vivo.

Electromagnetic Fields and Stem Cell Fate: When Physics Meets Biology

Controlling stem cell (SC) fate is an extremely important topic in the realm of SC research. A variety of different external cues mainly mechanical, chemical, or electrical stimulations individually or in combination have been incorporated to control SC fate. Here, we will deconstruct the probable relationship between the functioning of electromagnetic (EMF) and SC fate of a variety of different SCs. The electromagnetic (EM) nature of the cells is discussed with the emphasis on the effects of EMF on the determinant factors that directly and/or indirectly influence cell fate. Based on the EM effects on a variety of cellular processes, it is believed that EMFs can be engineered to provide a controlled signal with the highest impact on the SC fate decision. Considering the novelty and broad applications of applying EMFs to change SC fate, it is necessary to shed light on many unclear mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.

27 T ultra-high static magnetic field changes orientation and morphology of mitotic spindles in human cells

Purified microtubules have been shown to align along the static magnetic field (SMF) in vitro because of their diamagnetic anisotropy. However, whether mitotic spindle in mammalian cells can be aligned by magnetic field has not been experimentally proved. In particular, the biological effects of SMF of above 20 T (Tesla) on mammalian cells have never been reported. Here we found that in both CNE-2Z and RPE1 human cells spindle orients in 27 T SMF. The direction of spindle alignment depended on the extent to which chromosomes were aligned to form a planar metaphase plate. Our results show that the magnetic torque acts on both microtubules and chromosomes, and the preferred direction of spindle alignment relative to the field depends more on chromosome alignment than microtubules. In addition, spindle morphology was also perturbed by 27 T SMF. This is the first reported study that investigated the mammalian cellular responses to ultra-high magnetic field of above 20 T. Our study not only found that ultra-high magnetic field can change the orientation and morphology of mitotic spindles, but also provided a tool to probe the role of spindle orientation and perturbation in developmental and cancer biology.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22911.001

Nowadays, a number of methods can be used to ‘look’ inside the body to investigate potential health problems. One of these is a technique called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that uses magnetic fields that are several hundred times stronger than a fridge magnet (or over 10,000 times stronger than the Earth’s natural magnetic field) to generate images of the inside of the body. In general, stronger magnetic fields enable higher quality images to be obtained. However, the effects of exposing the body’s cells to these magnetic fields have not been fully determined.

Like most other biological materials, protein polymers called microtubules can respond to high magnetic fields – for example, by aligning with the field. Microtubules play a number of roles inside cells. This includes forming the mitotic spindle that separates copies of chromosomes – the structures in which the majority of a cell’s genetic material is stored – equally between dividing cells.

The orientation of the mitotic spindle determines the direction in which a cell will divide. This direction is important for generating different types of cells and tissues. Furthermore, many cancerous cells have incorrectly oriented spindles.

Zhang, Hou et al. have now exposed cancerous and normal human cells to magnetic fields of varying strengths. The maximum magnetic field strength tested (27 Tesla – or around 10 times the highest field strengths produced by standard hospital MRI scanners) did not kill the cells after four hours of exposure, but the orientation of the spindles inside the cells did change. In addition, the 27 Tesla magnetic field caused spindles that were perpendicular to the direction of the field to widen. At an intermediate field strength (9 Tesla – a magnetic field strength that has been used in some experimental MRI scanners), the orientation of the spindle only changed after three days of continuous exposure to the magnetic field. Lower field strengths (such as those currently used in hospital MRI scanners) did not alter the orientation of the spindle even after seven days of exposure.

Zhang, Hou et al. also observed that the magnetic field acts on both the microtubules and chromosomes. However, the alignment of the chromosomes in the cell was the greatest determinant of the direction in which the spindle would align itself in response to the magnetic field.

The next step is to analyze the consequences of magnetic field-induced spindle orientation changes – can these lead to cancer or reduce cancer growth, or change how animal tissues develop? Understanding how to control the position of the spindle could also ultimately make it possible to use ultra-high magnetic fields to engineer tissues or stimulate their regeneration.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22911.002

Long range physical cell-to-cell signalling via mitochondria inside membrane nanotubes: a hypothesis

Coordinated interaction of single cells by cell-to-cell communication (signalling) enables complex behaviour necessary for the functioning of multicellular organisms. A quite newly discovered cell-to-cell signalling mechanism relies on nanotubular cell-co-cell connections, termed "membrane nanotubes" (MNTs). The present paper presents the hypothesis that mitochondria inside MNTs can form a connected structure (mitochondrial network) which enables the exchange of energy and signals between cells. It is proposed that two modes of energy and signal transmission may occur: electrical/electrochemical and electromagnetic (optical). Experimental work supporting the hypothesis is reviewed, and suggestions for future research regarding the discussed topic are given.

Electrical Oscillations in Two-Dimensional Microtubular Structures

Microtubules (MTs) are unique components of the cytoskeleton formed by hollow cylindrical structures of αβ tubulin dimeric units. The structural wall of the MT is interspersed by nanopores formed by the lateral arrangement of its subunits. MTs are also highly charged polar polyelectrolytes, capable of amplifying electrical signals. The actual nature of these electrodynamic capabilities remains largely unknown. Herein we applied the patch clamp technique to two-dimensional MT sheets, to characterize their electrical properties. Voltage-clamped MT sheets generated cation-selective oscillatory electrical currents whose magnitude depended on both the holding potential, and ionic strength and composition. The oscillations progressed through various modes including single and double periodic regimes and more complex behaviours, being prominent a fundamental frequency at 29 Hz. In physiological K(+) (140 mM), oscillations represented in average a 640% change in conductance that was also affected by the prevalent anion. Current injection induced voltage oscillations, thus showing excitability akin with action potentials. The electrical oscillations were entirely blocked by taxol, with pseudo Michaelis-Menten kinetics and a KD of ~1.29 μM. The findings suggest a functional role of the nanopores in the MT wall on the genesis of electrical oscillations that offer new insights into the nonlinear behaviour of the cytoskeleton.

Engineering a 3D microfluidic culture platform for tumor-treating field application

The limitations of current cancer therapies highlight the urgent need for a more effective therapeutic strategy. One promising approach uses an alternating electric field; however, the mechanisms involved in the disruption of the cancer cell cycle as well as the potential adverse effects on non-cancerous cells must be clarified. In this study, we present a novel microfluidic device with embedded electrodes that enables the application of an alternating electric field therapy to cancer cells in a 3D extracellular matrix. To demonstrate the potential of our system to aid in designing and testing new therapeutic approaches, cancer cells and cancer cell aggregates were cultured individually or co-cultured with endothelial cells. The metastatic potential of the cancer cells was reduced after electric field treatment. Moreover, the proliferation rate of the treated cancer cells was lower compared with that of the untreated cells, whereas the morphologies and proliferative capacities of the endothelial cells were not significantly affected. These results demonstrate that our novel system can be used to rapidly screen the effect of an alternating electric field on cancer and normal cells within an in vivo-like microenvironment with the potential to optimize treatment protocols and evaluate synergies between tumor-treating field treatment and chemotherapy.

Biofield Science and Healing: History, Terminology, and Concepts

Biofield science is an emerging field of study that aims to provide a scientific foundation for understanding the complex homeodynamic regulation of living systems. By furthering our scientific knowledge of the biofield, we arrive at a better understanding of the foundations of biology as well as the phenomena that have been described as "energy medicine." Energy medicine, the application of extremely low-level signals to the body, including energy healer interventions and bio-electromagnetic device-based therapies, is incomprehensible from the dominant biomedical paradigm of "life as chemistry." The biofield or biological field, a complex organizing energy field engaged in the generation, maintenance, and regulation of biological homeodynamics, is a useful concept that provides the rudiments of a scientific foundation for energy medicine and thereby advances the research and practice of it. An overview on the biofield is presented in this paper, with a focus on the history of the concept, related terminology, key scientific concepts, and the value of the biofield perspective for informing future research.

An Overview of Biofield Devices

Advances in biophysics, biology, functional genomics, neuroscience, psychology, psychoneuroimmunology, and other fields suggest the existence of a subtle system of "biofield" interactions that organize biological processes from the subatomic, atomic, molecular, cellular, and organismic to the interpersonal and cosmic levels. Biofield interactions may bring about regulation of biochemical, cellular, and neurological processes through means related to electromagnetism, quantum fields, and perhaps other means of modulating biological activity and information flow. The biofield paradigm, in contrast to a reductionist, chemistry-centered viewpoint, emphasizes the informational content of biological processes; biofield interactions are thought to operate in part via low-energy or "subtle" processes such as weak, nonthermal electromagnetic fields (EMFs) or processes potentially related to consciousness and nonlocality. Biofield interactions may also operate through or be reflected in more well-understood informational processes found in electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocardiographic (ECG) data. Recent advances have led to the development of a wide variety of therapeutic and diagnostic biofield devices, defined as physical instruments best understood from the viewpoint of a biofield paradigm. Here, we provide a broad overview of biofield devices, with emphasis on those devices for which solid, peer-reviewed evidence exists. A subset of these devices, such as those based upon EEG- and ECG-based heart rate variability, function via mechanisms that are well understood and are widely employed in clinical settings. Other device modalities, such a gas discharge visualization and biophoton emission, appear to operate through incompletely understood mechanisms and have unclear clinical significance. Device modes of operation include EMF-light, EMF-heat, EMF-nonthermal, electrical current, vibration and sound, physical and mechanical, intentionality and nonlocality, gas and plasma, and other (mode of operation not well-understood). Methodological issues in device development and interfaces for future interdisciplinary research are discussed. Devices play prominent cultural and scientific roles in our society, and it is likely that device technologies will be one of the most influential access points for the furthering of biofield research and the dissemination of biofield concepts. This developing field of study presents new areas of research that have many important implications for both basic science and clinical medicine.

Biofield Physiology: A Framework for an Emerging Discipline

Biofield physiology is proposed as an overarching descriptor for the electromagnetic, biophotonic, and other types of spatially-distributed fields that living systems generate and respond to as integral aspects of cellular, tissue, and whole organism self-regulation and organization. Medical physiology, cell biology, and biophysics provide the framework within which evidence for biofields, their proposed receptors, and functions is presented. As such, biofields can be viewed as affecting physiological regulatory systems in a manner that complements the more familiar molecular-based mechanisms. Examples of clinically relevant biofields are the electrical and magnetic fields generated by arrays of heart cells and neurons that are detected, respectively, as electrocardiograms (ECGs) or magnetocardiograms (MCGs) and electroencephalograms (EEGs) or magnetoencephalograms (MEGs). At a basic physiology level, electromagnetic activity of neural assemblies appears to modulate neuronal synchronization and circadian rhythmicity. Numerous nonneural electrical fields have been detected and analyzed, including those arising from patterns of resting membrane potentials that guide development and regeneration, and from slowly-varying transepithelial direct current fields that initiate cellular responses to tissue damage. Another biofield phenomenon is the coherent, ultraweak photon emissions (UPE), detected from cell cultures and from the body surface. A physiological role for biophotons is consistent with observations that fluctuations in UPE correlate with cerebral blood flow, cerebral energy metabolism, and EEG activity. Biofield receptors are reviewed in 3 categories: molecular-level receptors, charge flux sites, and endogenously generated electric or electromagnetic fields. In summary, sufficient evidence has accrued to consider biofield physiology as a viable scientific discipline. Directions for future research are proposed.

Biofield Science: Current Physics Perspectives

This article briefly reviews the biofield hypothesis and its scientific literature. Evidence for the existence of the biofield now exists, and current theoretical foundations are now being developed. A review of the biofield and related topics from the perspective of physical science is needed to identify a common body of knowledge and evaluate possible underlying principles of origin of the biofield. The properties of such a field could be based on electromagnetic fields, coherent states, biophotons, quantum and quantum-like processes, and ultimately the quantum vacuum. Given this evidence, we intend to inquire and discuss how the existence of the biofield challenges reductionist approaches and presents its own challenges regarding the origin and source of the biofield, the specific evidence for its existence, its relation to biology, and last but not least, how it may inform an integrated understanding of consciousness and the living universe.

Electro-acoustic behavior of the mitotic spindle: a semi-classical coarse-grained model

The regulation of chromosome separation during mitosis is not fully understood yet. Microtubules forming mitotic spindles are targets of treatment strategies which are aimed at (i) the triggering of the apoptosis or (ii) the interruption of uncontrolled cell division. Despite these facts, only few physical models relating to the dynamics of mitotic spindles exist up to now. In this paper, we present the first electromechanical model which enables calculation of the electromagnetic field coupled to acoustic vibrations of the mitotic spindle. This electromagnetic field originates from the electrical polarity of microtubules which form the mitotic spindle. The model is based on the approximation of resonantly vibrating microtubules by a network of oscillating electric dipoles. Our computational results predict the existence of a rapidly changing electric field which is generated by either driven or endogenous vibrations of the mitotic spindle. For certain values of parameters, the intensity of the electric field and its gradient reach values which may exert a not-inconsiderable force on chromosomes which are aligned in the spindle midzone. Our model may describe possible mechanisms of the effects of ultra-short electrical and mechanical pulses on dividing cells--a strategy used in novel methods for cancer treatment.

Searching for electrical properties, phenomena and mechanisms in the construction and function of chromosomes

OUR STUDIES REVEAL PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF CHROMOSOMES: (1) chromosomes are amazingly similar in construction and function to electrical transformers; (2) chromosomes possess in their construction and function, components similar to those of electric generators, conductors, condensers, switches, and other components of electrical circuits; (3) chromosomes demonstrate in nano-scale level electromagnetic interactions, resonance, fusion and other phenomena similar to those described by equations in classical physics. These electrical properties and phenomena provide a possible explanation for unclear and poorly understood mechanisms in clinical genetics including: (a) electrically based mechanisms responsible for breaks, translocations, fusions, and other chromosomal abnormalities associated with cancer, intellectual disability, infertility, pregnancy loss, Down syndrome, and other genetic disorders; (b) electrically based mechanisms involved in crossing over, non-disjunction and other events during meiosis and mitosis; (c) mechanisms demonstrating heterochromatin to be electrically active and genetically important.

Intracellular capacitive effects of polarized proteins in dendrites

Passive dendrites become active as a result of electrostatic interactions by dielectric polarization in proteins in a segment of a dendrite. The resultant nonlinear cable equation for a cylindrical volume representation of a dendritic segment is derived from Maxwell's equations under assumptions: (i) the electric field is restricted longitudinally along the cable length; (ii) extracellular isopotentiality; (iii) quasi-electrostatic conditions; (iv) isotropic membrane and homogeneous medium with constant conductivity; and (v) protein polarization contributes to intracellular capacitive effects through a well defined nonlinear capacity-voltage characteristic; (vi) intracellular resistance and capacitance in parallel are connected to the membrane in series. Under the above hypotheses, traveling wave solutions of the cable equation are obtained as propagating fronts of electrical excitation associated with capacitive charge-equalization and dispersion of continuous polarization charge densities in an Ohmic cable. The intracellular capacitative effects of polarized proteins in dendrites contribute to the conduction process.

Hypotheses relating to the function of the claustrum

This paper present a new hypothesis as to the function of the claustrum. Our basic premise is that the claustrum functions as a detector and integrator of synchrony in the axonal trains in its afferent inputs. In the first place an unexpected stimulus sets up a processed signal to the sensory cortex that initiates a focus of synchronized gamma oscillations therein. This focus may then interact with a general alerting signal conveyed from the reticular formation via cholinergic mechanisms, and with other salient activations set up by the stimulus in other sensory pathways that are relayed to the cortex. This activity is relayed from the cortex to the claustrum, which then processes these several inputs by means of multiple competitive intraclaustral synchronized oscillations at different frequencies. Finally it modulates the synchronized outputs that the claustrum distributes to most cortical and many subcortical structures, including the motor cortex. In this way, during multicenter perceptual and cognitive operations, reverberating claustro-cortical loops potentiate weak intracortical synchronizations by means of connected strong intraclaustral synchronizations. These may also occur without a salient stimulus. By this mechanism, the claustrum may play a strong role in the control of interactive processes in different parts of the brain, and in the control of voluntary behavior. These may include the neural correlates of consciousness. We also consider the role of GABAergic mechanisms and deafferentation plasticity.