title: External electric field effects on the mechanical properties of the αβ-tubulin dimer of microtubules: a molecular dynamics study.
abstract: The mechanical properties of the αβ-tubulin dimer of microtubules was modeled by using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The effect on the mechanical properties of the dimer of the existence and nonexistence of an applied electric field, either constant or periodic, was studied. Since there are charged or polar groups in the dimer structure, the electric field can interact with the dimer. The elastic constant and Young's modulus of the dimer were decreased when the dimer was exposed to a constant electric field of 0.03 V/nm. Furthermore, applying an oscillating electric field in the 1 GHz range to the dimer increased the elastic constant and Young's modulus of the dimer. These parameters were related to dimer rigidity and, consequently, in this frequency range, the application of electric fields may affect the function of microtubules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Saeidi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lohrasebi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mahnam
mesh_terms: D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004560:Electricity; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D058105:Polymerization; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014404:Tubulin
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jul 5;103(27):10248-10253
references.pmid: 16801537
references.citation: Phys Med. 2012 Jul;28(3):221-9
references.pmid: 21820928
references.citation: Biophys J. 2012 Jun 20;102(12):2687-96
references.pmid: 22735518
references.citation: J Cell Sci. 1996 Feb;109 ( Pt 2):509-16
references.pmid: 8838674
references.citation: Biophys J. 2010 Jul 21;99(2):629-37
references.pmid: 20643083
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2010 Jan 8;104(1):018101
references.pmid: 20366396
references.citation: Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Dec 9;89(24):248101
references.pmid: 12484982
references.citation: J Chem Theory Comput. 2008 Mar;4(3):435-47
references.pmid: 26620784
references.citation: Biophys J. 2010 Mar 17;98(6):1009-17
references.pmid: 20303858
references.citation: Biophys J. 1999 May;76(5):2784-96
references.pmid: 10233094
references.citation: Biomolecules. 2013 Feb 11;3(1):168-79
references.pmid: 24970163
references.citation: Nature. 1998 Jan 8;391(6663):199-203
references.pmid: 9428769
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Mar 15;90(6):2093-8
references.pmid: 16387782
references.citation: J Mol Biol. 2001 Nov 9;313(5):1045-57
references.pmid: 11700061
references.citation: Cell. 1999 Jan 8;96(1):79-88
references.pmid: 9989499
references.citation: Biophys J. 2006 Sep 15;91(6):L72-4
references.pmid: 16844753