Simulating the Effect of 200 kHz AC Electric Fields on Tumour Cell Structures to Uncover the Mechanism of a Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Our goal is to uncover the mechanism underlying tumour-treating fields’ efficacy in killing cancer cells. Modelling the effects of these 200 kHz alternating current electric fields on tumour cell sub-structures has led us to focus on the microtubules (MTs), C-termini and the motor protein kinesin, which are integral to the critical functions of MT transport of proteins during the delicate orchestration of cell division (mitosis). Leading hypotheses of the TTFields’ mechanism that we are modelling include disruption of mitosis functions (such as the ‘kinesin walk’ along MTs), C-termini state transitions and MT polymerization.