Abstract
In cells, the microtubules are surrounded by viscoelastic medium. Microtubules, though very small in size, perform a vital role in transportation of protein and in maintaining the cell shape. During performing these functions waves propagate and this propagation of waves has been investigated using nonlocal elastic theory. But the effect of surrounding medium was not taken into account. To fill this gap, this study considers the viscoelastic medium along with nonlocal elastic theory. The analytical formulas of the velocity of waves, and the results reveal that the presence of medium reduces the velocity. The axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric waves are separately discussed. Furthermore, the results are compared with the results gained from the studies of free microtubules. The presence of medium around microtubules results in the increase of the flexural rigidity causing a significant decrease in radial wave velocity as compared to axial and circumferential wave velocities. The effect of viscoelastic medium is more obvious on radial wave velocity, to a lesser extent on torsional wave velocity and least on longitudinal wave velocity.