A 3D Monte Carlo analysis of the role of dyadic space geometry in spark generation.

ABSTRACT: In multiple biological systems, vital intracellular signaling processes occur locally in minute periplasmic subspaces often referred to as signaling microdomains. The number of signaling molecules in these microdomains is small enough to render the notion of continuous concentration changes invalid, such that signaling events are better described using stochastic rather than deterministic methods. Of particular interest is the dyadic cleft in the cardiac myocyte, where short-lived, local increases in intracellular Ca2+ known as Ca2+ sparks regulate excitation-contraction coupling. The geometry of dyadic spaces can alter in disease and development and display significant interspecies variability. We created and studied a 3D Monte Carlo model of the dyadic cleft, specifying the spatial local

SUBMITTER: Koh X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1386779 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature