Kinetic energy of dyads of sister chromatids in a biomechanical oscillatory model of the mitotic spindle

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study how different oscillatory behavior of centrosomes and their mass arrangement affect the kinetic energy of pairs of dyads of sister chromatids in the system of a mitotic spindle during metaphase. The analyses are done through a biomechanical oscillatory model of the mitotic spindle. Analytical expressions for the kinetic energy of the oscillating dyads of sister chromatids are given for the case when the biomechanical system of the mitotic spindle is conservative, linear, and when it oscillates under external single frequency oscillation. Numerical analyses with some approximation for mouse chromosomes are done. Our numerical experiment reveals that the kinetic energy of the oscillating dyads of sister chromatids has an oscillatory character and is affected by the chromosomes’ mass distribution and the frequency of centrosome excitation. The difference in energy distribution regarding different centrosome oscillatory frequencies in the same cell and the mass chromosome distribution may carry additional epigenetic information and could be important for the process of cell differentiation.