Mathematical model for transport of DNA plasmids from the external medium up to the nucleus by electroporation

Michael Leguèbe (1) , Maria Grazia Notarangelo (2) , Monika Twarogowska (3) , Roberto Natalini (2) , Clair Poignard (4, 5)

1 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
2 IAC - Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo "Mauro Picone"
3 DISIM - Department of Information Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics = Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Scienze dell'Informazione e Matematica [L'Aquila]
4 MONC - Modélisation Mathématique pour l'Oncologie
5 IMB - Institut de Mathématiques de Bordeaux

We propose a mathematical model for the DNA plasmids transport from the extracellular matrix up to the cell nucleus. The model couples two phenomena: the electroporation process, describing the cell membrane permeabilization to plasmids and the intracellular transport enhanced by the presence of microtubules. Numerical simulations of cells with arbitrary geometry and a network of microtubules show numerically the importance of the microtubules and the electroporation on the effectiveness of the DNA transfection, as observed by previous biological data.

Mots clés: Mathematical Biology; Finite Difference Method; Intracellular Transport; Microtubules; Plasmids Transport

Domaines: Equations aux dérivées partielles [math.AP]

Michael Leguèbe, Maria Grazia Notarangelo, Monika Twarogowska, Roberto Natalini, Clair Poignard. Mathematical model for transport of DNA plasmids from the external medium up to the nucleus by electroporation. [Research Report] RR-8939, Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest. 2016. ⟨hal-01349522v1⟩