Integrins may serve as mechanical transducers for low-frequency electric fields.

A hypothesis is presented that a transduction mechanism for low frequency electric fields of physiological strength ( approximately 1 V/cm) is the same as that for sinusoidal fluid shear stresses, the force exerted on an integrin. Simple calculations show that the forces exerted on a model integrin by transverse electric fields and fluid shears that produce cellular effects are comparable in magnitude, about 1 fN. The electric force is provided by the interaction of the surface charges on the integrin with the tangential component of the applied field. The mechanical shear force is the transverse fluid drag force exerted on the cylindrical surface of the integrin. Either force is coupled mechanically to the actin cortex within the cell. The mechanical network which exists within a cell and connects a cell to its surroundings would then be directly coupled to an applied electric field. The fundamental transduction mechanism for some electric field effects may then be ultimately mechanical in nature.