Size-dependent mobile surface charge model of cell electrophoresis

A model that accurately predicts the effects of cellular size and electric field strength on electrophoretic mobility has been developed. Previous models have predicted that electrophoretic mobility (EPM) is dependent only on cell surface charge, bath viscosity and ionic strength of the electrolyte. However, careful analysis of experimental data from the literature shows that these models do not accurately depict the relationship between chemically determined surface charge and observed mobility. We propose a new model that accounts for electrically driven redistribution of mobile surface charge islands, such as the recently proposed lipid raft structures. This model predicts electrophoretic mobility as a function of a new dimensionless quantity, A, that incorporates the cell radius, the electric field strength, and the average diameter of charged membrane complexes.