Cell Biomechanics / Cell Mechanics / Mechanobiology
sajad ghazavi; Bahman Vahidi
Volume 10, Issue 3 , October 2016, , Pages 257-266
Abstract
Due to the importance of the brain and neurons, a vast area of research has been conducted in this field. However, due to the complexity of the neural behavior, each study investigated the functionality of neurons from one perspective such as electrophysiological, chemical, or mechanical perspective. ...
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Due to the importance of the brain and neurons, a vast area of research has been conducted in this field. However, due to the complexity of the neural behavior, each study investigated the functionality of neurons from one perspective such as electrophysiological, chemical, or mechanical perspective. In spite of the large number of research conducted on the brain injury topic, there is no study investigating the interaction of the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the neurons and its effect on the cell functionality. Understating the interaction between the mechanical and electrical properties of a neuron will have a substantial effect on treating neurological diseases such as traumatic brain injury and improving treatment methods such as ultrasound. As a result, there is a vital need to simulate the effect of mechanical forces on the electrophysiological behavior of a neuron. This study is one of the few attempts to achieve this goal by taking into account the mechanosensitivity of ion channels which affects the action potentials. Our proposed comprehensive model is based on power law equation (fractional dashpot) for mechanical modeling, Hodgkin Huxley (HH) equation for electrophysiological model and recent experiments for combination of these two equations. Based on the model, the calculated strain from the power law equation affects the activation and inactivation of ion channels. By changing the activation and inactivation variable in the HH equation, we can evaluate the effect of strain and mechanical stimulation on neural function. The results reveal neuron functions’ deficiency during neuron mechanical damage. As a result, action potential signal’s amplitude reduces. This reduction in amplitude of the action potential may be reversible or irreversible based on the amount of damage (plastic deformation).
