ELT-72106 Cellular Interactions.

Exercise 2
Antonio Ladrn de Guevara Ruiz

Student number: 252602

1) Actin polymerization
a. Negative force.
If the calculated force is negative, we could state that there is a pulling force instead of a
pushing force (if the membrane continues attached to the filament). This pulling force may be
the result of the depolymerization of the filament that is produced because the actin
monomer concentration falls below the critical concentration.
b.
Taking into account that the actin monomer size is about 5nm [1] and considering room
temperature (25C), the forces at the minus and plus ends for the given monomer
concentrations are:
1.

0.05 M
Plus end =

2.

3.

1.38 1023 298.15

0.05

= 1.14 1012
9
0.1
2.5 10

Minus end =

0.5 M

1 M

1.38 1023 298.15

0.05

= 4.56 1012
9
0.8
2.5 10

1.38 1023 298.15

0.5
Plus end =

= 2.65 1012
0.1
2.5 109

1.38 1023 298.15

0.5
Minus end =

= 7.74 1013
0.8
2.5 109

Plus end =

1.38 1023 298.15

1

= 3.79 1012
9
0.1
2.5 10

Minus end =

1.38 1023 298.15

1

= 3.67 1013
9
0.8
2.5 10

c.
(i) The whole filament is shrinking because the monomer concentration is lower than the
critical concentration at both ends and, thus, depolymerization is happening at both the plus
and the minus-end
(ii) The actin filament is shrinking at the minus-end because the monomer concentration is
lower than the critical concentration. However, the filament is elongating at the plus-end
where the monomer concentration is higher than the critical concentration and, thus, actin
polymerization is happening.
(iii) The actin filament is growing on both ends because actin polymerization is happening at
both the plus and minus ends as a consequence of a higher monomer concentration that
exceeds both critical concentrations.

2) Microtubule Stiffness
Calculation of the mean flexural rigidity of microtubules
1. Obtain flexural rigidity of each microtubule using the Eulers formula: =
2.6 1012 (7.5 106 )2
()1 =
= 1.482 1023 2
2
()2 =

2.9 1012 (10.5 106 )2

= 3.239 1023 2
2

()3 =

()4 =
()5 =
()6 =

2
2

2.1 1012 (22 106 )2

= 1.03 1022 2
2
2 1012 (20 106 )2
= 8.106 1023 2
2

3.8 1012 (10 106 )2

= 3.85 1023 2
2

1.1 1012 (30.5 106 )2

= 1.037 1022 2
2

()7 =
()8 =

()9 =
()10 =

1.7 1012 (18 106 )2

= 5.581 1023 2
2
1.1 1012 (19 106 )2
= 4.023 1023 2
2
3.7 1012 (9 106 )2
= 3.037 1023 2
2

1.4 1012 (28 106 )2

= 1.112 1022 2
2

2. Make the average of the ten flexural rigidities obtained:

()

10

1
= () = 6.111 1023 2
10
=1

Calculation of the mean Youngs modulus of microtubules

1. Obtain the geometrical moment of inertia of the microtubules taking into account the
typical values for their outer and inner diameter.
=

(25 109 )4 (17 109 )4

4 4
=
= 1.5075 1032 4
64
64

2. Calculate the average Youngs Modulus considering the average flexural rigidity
obtained and the flexural rigidity equation:
=

()
6.111 1023
=
= 4.05

1.5075 1032

3) Nernst potential
a.
The Nernst potential equation shown is related to the physiological application of the Nernst
equation (half-cell potential of an electrode). This Nernst potential equation is used to
calculate the potential of an ion charge across a cell membrane. The equation is:
=

[ ]

[ ]

Where R is the universal gas constant (8.3144621 J mol1 K1 [2]), T is the absolute
temperature, z is the charge of the ion (valence), F is the Faraday constant (96485.3365 C mol1
[2]), [ion outside cell] is the extracellular ion concentration and [ion inside cell] is the
intracellular ion concentration.
b.
Taking into account the given equation for the Nernst potential and considering a temperature
of 37C:
+ =

310.15
5

= 89.05
1
140

+ =
=

310.15
145

= 71.467
1
10

310.15
110

= 77.736
1
6

4) Goldman equation
a.
The Goldman equation is used in order to determine the resting potential of a cell membrane.
That membrane potential should be equal to the Nernst potential when there is no influx or
efflux of ions, i.e., when both the extracellular and intracellular mediums are in equilibrium.
However, in the resting state this equilibrium does not happen because of the active ion
pumps. Therefore, we have to use the Goldman equation to calculate the resting membrane
potential where the Ps are the permeability of the cell membrane to a specific ion.
b.
+,+, =

310.15
0.05 145 + 1 5 + 0.4 6

= 67.7

0.05 10 + 1 140 + 0.4 110

Comparing to the values obtained in exercise 3b, we can observe that the value of the resting
membrane potential is closer to that of potassium and calcium. This is because of the low
permeability of the membrane for sodium ions as can be seen in the table.
c.
If we calculate again the membrane potential using the Goldman equation:
+,+, =

310.15
5 145 + 1 5 + 0.4 6

= 30.49

5 10 + 1 140 + 0.4 110

This scenario is totally realistic. For instance, if we take a look at the waveform of a typical
action potential such as the one below, we can observe that along the action potential the
membrane potential changes. The situation described above happens along the depolarization
phase or rising phase of the action potential when voltage-gated sodium channels of the cell
membrane are opened as a consequence of an external stimulus and, if that stimulus is strong
enough, other voltage-gated sodium channels are opened because of the inward sodium
channels. Therefore, those opened voltage-gated sodium channels are responsible for the
increase of the membrane permeability for sodium ions.

Figure 1 Typical action potential [3]

REFERENCES
[1] Philips, R. (2016). What big are the cells filaments?. Book.bionumbers.org. Retrieved
7 April 2016, from http://book.bionumbers.org/what-are-the-sizes-of-the-cellsfilaments/
[2] Team, P. (2016). Fundamental Physical Constants - PhysiologyWeb.
Physiologyweb.com.
Retrieved
7
April
2016,
from
http://www.physiologyweb.com/reference_tables/fundamental_physical_constants.h
tml
[3] Team, P. (2016). Introduction - Neuronal Action Potential - PhysiologyWeb.
Physiologyweb.com.
Retrieved
7
April
2016,
from
http://www.physiologyweb.com/lecture_notes/neuronal_action_potential/neuronal_
action_potential_introduction.html