Modeling and analysis of calcium signaling events leading to long-term depression in cerebellar Purkinje cells.

ABSTRACT: Modeling and simulation of the calcium signaling events that precede long-term depression of synaptic activity in cerebellar Purkinje cells are performed using the Virtual Cell biological modeling framework. It is found that the unusually high density and low sensitivity of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3R) are critical to the ability of the cell to generate and localize a calcium spike in a single dendritic spine. The results also demonstrate the model's capability to simulate the supralinear calcium spike observed experimentally during coincident activation of the parallel and climbing fibers. The sensitivity of the calcium spikes to certain biological and geometrical effects is investigated as well as the mechanisms that underlie the cell's ability to generate the supralinea

SUBMITTER: Hernjak N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1366947 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature