Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Modeling, Analysis, And Simulation To Reveal The Mechanisms Of Ciliary Beating, Louis Woodhams

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cilia are microscopic cellular appendages that help us breathe by clearing our airways, maintain the health of our central nervous system by circulating cerebrospinal fluid, and allow us to reproduce by transporting eggs and propelling sperm cells. Cilia even determine the asymmetry of our internal organs during embryonic development. However, the mechanisms underlying ciliary beating are not fully understood. Questions remain as to how arrays of the motor protein dynein generate the propulsive waveforms observed in cilia and how structural elements within the cilium and its connection to the cell deform during beating. In the current work, mathematical modeling, analysis, …