An improved electrical model of microtubule as biomolecular nonlinear transmission line

Abstract

The manner in which microtubules, the essential cellular biopolymers, handle and process electrical signals is still uncompleted puzzle. In this paper, we have elaborated some new electrodynamic properties of these protein-based nanotubes, specifically, their ability to conduct ionic currents. In that context, it has been established an improved electrical model of microtubule as biomolecular nonlinear transmission line. We described the basic nanoscale electric elements of model and estimated the corresponding parameters, stressing the particular importance of tubulin C-termini. The properties of the localized electric nanocurrent of positive ions and accompanying voltage along a microtubule are analytically and numerically analyzed here. © 2014 IEEE.