Electrodeformation of multi-bilayer spherical concentric membranes by AC electric fields

¹ Instituto de Física, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí - Av. Manuel Nava 6, Zona Universitaria, C.P. 78290, San Luis Potosí, SLP, México
² Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland - College Park, MD, USA
³ Unidad Académica de Física, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas - Calzada Solidaridad Esquina con Paseo la Bufa S/N, C.P. 98060 Zacatecas, Zac., México

Received: 17 July 2017
Accepted: 16 November 2017

Abstract

It is now well established that external stresses alter the behaviour of cells, where such alterations can be as profound as changes in gene expression. A type of stresses of particular interest are those due to alternating-current (AC) electric fields. The effect of AC fields on cells is still not well understood, in particular it is not clear how these fields affect the cell nucleus and other organelles. Here, we propose that one possible mechanism is through the deformation of the membranes. In order to investigate the effect of AC fields on the morphological changes of the cell organelles, we modelled the cell as two concentric bilayer membranes. This model allows us to obtain the deformations induced by the AC field by balancing the elastic energy and the work done by the Maxwell stresses. Morphological phase diagrams are obtained as a function of the frequency and the electrical properties of the media and membranes. We demonstrate that the organelle shapes can be changed without modifying the shape of the external cell membrane and that the organelle deformation transitions can be used to measure, for example, the conductivity of the nucleus.