Thermomagnetic resonance affects cancer growth and motility

Abstract

The fight against a multifaceted incurable disease such as cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach to overcome the multitude of molecular defects at its origin. Here, a new thermophysical biochemical approach has been suggested and associated with the use of electromagnetic fields to control the growth of cancer cells. In particular, thermodynamic analysis of the heat transfer is developed in correlation with cellular parameters such as the volume/area ratio. We propose that the electromagnetic wave, at the specific frequency calculated as the characteristic response time of any cell type to the external thermal perturbation, can affect resonant intracellular molecular oscillations. The biochemical model hypothesizes that microtubules are stabilized, and the impact is predicted on cell growth, migration and mitochondrial activity. Experimental validation of the theoretical results shows that the thermodynamic analysis allows the application of the specific electromagnetic field able to decrease cancer cell invasion and proliferation.

Thermal Resonance and Cell Behavior

“…Conversely, we can try to force a variation of the pH by a variation of the cell membrane electric potential. Indeed, the concentration of a chemical species follows the law [ 24 ]: where c out and c in are the concentrations of any ion species outside and inside the cell membrane; ϕ is the electric field between the two sides of the membrane, R = 8314 J mol −1 K −1 is the universal constant of gasses, T is the temperature, and the concentration is related to the pH variation in any cell. In this context, now, we can show as an example the ATP synthase, considering the biochemical reaction: …”

“…To do so, we consider that living cells’ metabolism implies flows of matter and heat into and out of the cells; the heat flux is the heat wasted by the cell toward its environment. The general approach to the heat transfer is the lumped element model to black box, which holds to the following equation [ 17 , 24 ]: where r is a radial variable, considering the cell as a theoretical sphere, T cell is the temperature, H M is the metabolism, a = λ / ρc cell , in which ρ is the density and c cell is the specific heat, T 0 is the environmental temperature, τ = ρc cell V / αA , V is the volume and A is the area of the cell, and α is the coefficient of convection. This equation leads to a harmonic solution [ 17 , 24 ]: …”

“…As mentioned above, the heat flux represents the heat power exchanged by the cell and its environment. Considering the experimental setup usually used in the biophysical and biochemical analysis of cells, the heat flux is exchanged by convection with the suspending aqueous solution around any cell, so it is possible to write [ 17 , 24 ]: where is the cell mass density, is the volume of the cell, is the specific heat of the cell, T cell is the cell’s temperature, is the coefficient of convection, is the surface area of the cell, which changes during the phases of the development of the cell, is the volume/area ratio, a parameter which influences the chemical reaction’s time and the fluxes through the cell membrane, and is the difference of temperatures between the cell temperature and the environment temperature ( T 0 ). The term is the geometric shape of the cell in relation to convection.…”

Thermal resonance in cancer

“…Here, we have improved our previous results [31][32][33] by focusing our analysis on the equivalent electric circuit model of membrane. This is a fundamental results, because it links our usual entropic analysis to the accepted model of membrane, in literature.…”

How Life Works—A Continuous Seebeck-Peltier Transition in Cell Membrane?

“…around the cells themselves. This mechanism of heat exchange with fluids is thermodynamically described by convection, by the Newton law: where kg m is the cell density, J kg K is the specific heat of the cell, is the coefficient of convection, with W m K conductivity, the Reynolds number and the Prandtl number [ 9 ], A area of the cell membrane, V is the cell volume, and is the mean radius of the cell [ 10 , 11 ]. So, we can obtain: which highlights the relation between the membrane electric potential and the temperature of the cell, ℓ being the length of the membrane.…”