Movement and Alignment of Microtubules in Electric Fields and Electric-Dipole-Moment Estimates

The effects of both constant (up to 2 × 103 V/m) and high-frequency alternating fields (up to 2.1 × 105 V/m, 200 kHz to 2 MHz) on suspended microtubules are investigated. At pH 6.8 and 120 mM ionic strength, constant fields cause a motion of microtubules toward the anode. The electrophoretic mobility amounts to 2.6 × 10−4 cm2/Vs, reflecting a negative net charge of approximately 0.2 elementary charges per tubulin dimer. The moving microtubules are randomly space oriented. Alternating high-frequency fields induce electric dipoles and align the microtubules parallel to the field direction. By determining the angular velocity of the turning microtubules, we estimate a dipole moment of roughly 34,000 Debye at 2.1 × 105 V/m and 2 MHz. By comparing the potential energy of the dipole in the applied field with the thermal energy of microtubules, we obtain a minimum value of 6,000 Debye as necessary for an efficient alignment.