Electro-physiology Models of Cells with Spherical Geometry with Non-conducting Center

Jiang, Jiamu; Smith, Paul; van Rossum, Mark C. W.

Abstract

We study the flow of electrical currents in spherical cells with a non-conducting core, so that current flow is restricted to a thin shell below the cell’s membrane. Examples of such cells are fat storing cells (adipocytes). We derive the relation between current and voltage in the passive regime and examine the conditions under which the cell is electro-tonically compact. We compare our results to the well-studied case of electrical current flow in cylinder structures, such as neurons, described by the cable equation. In contrast to the cable, we find that for the sphere geometry (1) the voltage profile across the cell depends critically on the electrode geometry, and (2) the charging and discharging can be much faster than the membrane time constant; however, (3) voltage clamp experiments will incur similar distortion as in the cable case. We discuss the relevance for adipocyte function and experimental electro-physiology.

Citation

Jiang, J., Smith, P., & van Rossum, M. C. W. (2020). Electro-physiology Models of Cells with Spherical Geometry with Non-conducting Center. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 82(12), Article 147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-020-00828-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 15, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Nov 19, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 23, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 25, 2020
• Journal: Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
• Print ISSN: 0092-8240
• Electronic ISSN: 1522-9602
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 82
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: 147
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-020-00828-6
• Keywords: Immunology; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Computational Theory and Mathematics; General Neuroscience; Pharmacology; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; General Mathematics; General Environmental Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5065316
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11538-020-00828-6
• Additional Information: Received: 22 July 2020; Accepted: 30 October 2020; First Online: 19 November 2020