A review of the ferroelectric model of microtubules

It has been 25 years since the piezoelectric properties of the microtubule were first discussed. Subsequent to the discovery of its piezoelectric properties, its consequences have been observed in experiments which have shown microtubules to align under the influence of electric fields. In this regard, our investigations have sought to determine in which situations the ferroelectric properties are important for the function of the microtubule, and in addition, how the microtubule may be affected by the transient endogenous electric fields of living cells. We report a summary of recent findings and discuss their implications.