How to Build Controllable Biomolecular Circuits Using Protein Filaments
Jack A. Tuszynski
The structure-function relationship is the basis of quantitative analysis of living organisms whose fundamental unit is a cell. Cellular structural and functional complexity is a challenge to our understanding of responses to various environmental signals and stimuli. Electrical and electromagnetic interactions within and between cells are particularly poorly understood. Experimental investigations in parallel with computational modelling using modern methods and tools are gradually developing towards an integrated model of the cell as bioelectric circuitry. A complete quantitative bioelectric model of various subcellular components and a whole cell could allow us to reverse engineer the underlying bio-electrodynamic design principles and use this information for the construction of novel bioelectric devices. As a result, controllable use of such devices for the development of hybrid technologies and within biological systems can allow us to manipulate cell differentiation, cell division and other processes. While much is known about the electric properties of cell membranes, explorations of the cytoskeleton are still nebulous. Key cytoskeleton components, actin filaments and microtubules, play essential roles in cell motility, mitosis, cell differentiation, transport and signaling. Their elementary protein building blocks self-assemble into cell-spanning filaments, and are strongly affected by temperature, ionic concentrations, pH and other factors such as pharmacological agents. These factors, affecting cellular structure formation, also affect cellular responses to electric and electromagnetic fields in a largely unexplored way. Future research in this area of investigations may have major implications for the development of novel therapeutic modalities and for a range of nanotechnology applications such as nano-sensors and biocomputing elements.
Keywords: Tubulin, microtubules, electrical circuits, cytoskeleton