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Physicists explain how cilia help with sperm flow.
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Nationalgeographic.co.id—A new study explains how hair, called silia, plays an important role in moving fluids and small particles in the body.
As is well known, the luminal cells of the fallopian tubes have cilia (hair-like structures) on their surfaces, and by the movement of the cilia of these tiny hair-like structures, flow is created directed from the ovaries to the uterus.
Sperm cannot claim all the credit for their strong swimming abilities. The tiny carpet of hairs lining the inside of the fallopian tubes actually gives them an extra push, pushing them up.
Recently, UO theoretical physicist John Toner has an explanation of how these hairs, called cilia, can move fluids and tiny particles in the body.
He created a mathematical model that explains how cilia align to move particles in consistent directions. The fluid flowing over the cilia helps the hair to wave in the same direction and pushes the particles away. He and his colleagues describe the equation in two new papers, published December 23, 2021 in the journal Physical Review E title Hydrodynamic theory of flocking at a solid-liquid interface: Long-range order and giant number fluctuations and journal Physical Review Letters title Swarming Bottom Feeders: Flocking at Solid-Liquid Interfaces.
Toner has studied cluster physics for years. He previously developed equations that explain how hundreds of birds simultaneously dive across the sky, or how schools of fish swim in unison. He won the 2020 Lars Onsager Prize from the American Physical Society for his work.
But remembering the question of cilia requires a slightly different approach. “In biological systems, many important actions occur at surfaces where solids meet liquids,” Toner said. “What I realized is, it’s a very different kind of flocking than what I thought.” he said.
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Apparently, sperm does not swim alone. Tiny carpets of hair called cilia that line the inside of the fallopian tubes help them swim upwards.
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Cilia move not only sperm, but many other important types of movement in the body, including removing mucus from the lungs. It’s an interesting challenge from a physics perspective, because the hairs are fixed at one end, Toner said.
Even in other studies related to the cilia present in the male reproductive organs, it is also explained that these hairs help to stir sperm to prevent them from gathering and clogging the tube so that they can reach their final destination.
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