A model of phagosome motion within cells based on cytomagnetometric measurements

Cytomagnetometry is the study of the intracellular movement and rheological properties of living cells by magnetic measurement. This paper summarizes the mathematics involved in the measurement and proposes a new model of phagosome motion in which a motor protein such as myosin and a protein filament such as microfilament play the role of the actomyosin system in the muscle. The rotational random walk is assumed to result from interactions of these proteins. The model makes predictions about the results of the experiments employing magnetic particles introduced into the cells by phagocytosis. The predictions are qualitatively consistent with the results of recent preliminary experiments.