Spectral fingerprint of electrostatic forces between biological cells

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cellular Electromagnetics

Background:

• Predicting electrostatic forces (EFs) between biological cells is vital for cell recognition, electroporation (EP), and mechanosensing.
• Understanding these forces is challenging, particularly in complex cellular environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the frequency-dependent behavior of electrostatic forces between biological cells.
• To explore how electric field frequency influences the transition from repulsion to attraction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized frequency-domain finite element simulations on a prototypical model of a biological cell (layered concentric shells).
• Analyzed a range of parameters typical for eukaryotic cells.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated that electrostatic forces change from repulsion to attraction by varying the electric field drive frequency.
• Identified crossover frequencies and their dependence on field frequency, extracellular conductivity, and cell configuration symmetry.
• Showed that the electrostatic force spectrum is sensitive to cell configuration and exhibits signatures of collective behavior in multi-cell systems.

Conclusions:

• The repulsion-to-attraction transition is linked to asymmetric electrostatic screening at close cell separations.
• Findings suggest new avenues for experimentally observing electromagnetic properties of biological tissues using simplified models.