Diffusion restrictions surrounding mitochondria: a mathematical model of heart muscle fibers.

ABSTRACT: Several experiments on permeabilized heart muscle fibers suggest the existence of diffusion restrictions grouping mitochondria and surrounding ATPases. The specific causes of these restrictions are not known, but intracellular structures are speculated to act as diffusion barriers. In this work, we assume that diffusion restrictions are induced by sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), cytoskeleton proteins localized near SR, and crowding of cytosolic proteins. The aim of this work was to test whether such localization of diffusion restrictions would be consistent with the available experimental data and evaluate the extent of the restrictions. For that, a three-dimensional finite-element model was composed with the geometry based on mitochondrial and SR structural organization. Diffusion restrictio

SUBMITTER: Ramay HR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2711342 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature