Models of calcium signalling (Q261213)

This book is entirely focused on the modelling aspects: how quantitative models of calcium signalling are constructed, ``and how they can help build bridges between seemingly unrelated observations'' (Preface, p.\,vii). By taking an interdisciplinary approach, the book was written by theoreticians: ``one of us is a chemist, one a physicist, one a mathematician, and one a modeller'' (Preface, p.\,vii). The book is intended for people who are familiar with the basic theory of differential equations. Basic understanding of concepts such as cells, cytoplasm, plasma membrane, and elementary enzyme biochemistry is also assumed. The book is divided into two parts (\textit{Part I Basic theory} and \textit{Part II Specific models}) and the two parts consist of five and three chapters, respectively. Chapter 1 (\textit{Some background physiology}) covers a brief overview of the calcium dynamics in the internal compartments as the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR), and how the release of Ca\(^{2+}\) from ER/SR occurs through two channels: IP\(_3\) receptor and ryanodine receptor. Chapter 2 (\textit{The calcium toolbox}) addresses, based on ordinary differential equations (1D and 2D), the Ca\(^{2+}\) signalling pathways, as the binding of an agonist to a G protein-coupled receptor on a cell membrane, as the mitochondrial Na\(^{2+}\)/Ca\(^{2+}\) exchanger, and as well as the influx of Ca\(^{2+}\) through voltage-gated channels. It ends with the explanation of a reaction-diffusion equation to model the Ca\(^{2+}\) buffers in the ER/SR. In Chapter 3 (\textit{Basic modelling principles: Deterministic models}), the theoretical discussion deals with the basic principles of how deterministic models of aspects of intracellular Ca\(^{2+}\) signalling are constructed. Chapter 4 (\textit{Hierarchical and stochastic modelling}) deals with the basic building block of a Ca\(^{2+}\) response, when it is interpreted as a stochastic event at the level of an individual Ca\(^{2+}\) channel, whether a IP\(_3\) receptor, a ryanodine receptor, or a voltage-gated Ca\(^{2+}\) channel. ``Stochastic modelling, accounting for the hierarchy of structures (channel, cluster, cluster array) and events (blip, puff, spike), provides further insight into the mechanisms that control Ca\(^{2+}\) signalling'' (Chap.\,4, p.\,163). In Chapter 5 (\textit{Nonlinear dynamics of calcium}), some Ca\(^{2+}\) models are analysed based on numerical bifurcation diagrams. Chapter 6 (\textit{Nonexcitable cells}) covers selected examples which come from nonexcitable cells such as epithelial cells, oocytes, hepatocytes, and astrocytes. Chapter 7 (\textit{Muscle}) is focused on a descriptive discussion of the Ca\(^{2+}\) release underlying excitation-contraction coupling in all three types of muscle cells: skeletal, cardiac, and smooth. Chapter 8 (\textit{Neurons and other excitable cells}) closes the book with the Ca\(^{2+}\) dynamics in controlling the membrane potential at both the pre-synaptic and post-synaptic terminals. A selected list of literature for further productive reading on different levels of knowledge is given.