title: A small, physiological electric field orients cell division.
abstract: We report on an observation that the orientation of cell division is directed by small, applied electric fields (EFs). Cultured human corneal epithelial cells were exposed to a direct-current EF of physiological magnitude. Cells divided while attached to the culture dish, and most did so with a cleavage plane perpendicular to the EF vector. There are many instances in which cell divisions in vivo occur in the presence of direct-current physiological EF, for example, during embryonic morphogenesis, neuronal and epithelial differentiation, wound healing, or tumor formation. Endogenous physiological EFs may play important roles in some or all of these processes by regulating the axis of cell division and, hence, the positioning of daughter cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, Scotland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Forrester
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: McCaig
mesh_terms: D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D055672:Static Electricity