Microtubule as nanobioelectronic nonlinear circuit

Abstract

In recent years, the use of biological molecules has offered exciting alternatives to conventional synthetic methods. Specific methods use various biological templates to direct the deposition and patterning of inorganic materials. Here we have established a new electrical model of microtubules as a biological nanoscale circuit based on polyelectrolyte features of cylindrical biopolymers. Our working hypothesis is that microtubules play an active role in sub-cellular computation and signaling via electronic and protonic conductivity and can thus be made useful in hybrid materials that offer novel electronic characteristics. We verify these hypotheses both computationally and analytically through a quantitative model based on the atomic resolution structures of the key functional proteins.