Calcium Signaling and Finite Element Technique

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the calcium signaling phenomena using finite element method in a typical neuron cell. Neuron being the fundamental cell of the brain has many important roles to perform. The approximated geometry of the neuron is considered to approximate the calcium flow in it. Calcium is considered to be the important second messenger which helps in maintaining plethora of functions like synaptogenesis, proliferation, cell differentiation, etc. The level of the cell calcium is maintained by several important physiological parameters of the calcium toolkit like buffers, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, voltage gated calcium channel, etc. Here, we have considered the cytoplasmic calcium binding buffers in knowing its effect on cytosolic calcium concentration. Exogenous buffers EGTA and BAPTA are considered here. Mathematical model involving two-dimensional partial differential equation is used to delineate the calcium diffusion in presence of calcium binding buffers. Appropriate boundary conditions matching with the physiology of the brain are incorporated. To obtain the desired results finite element technique is used. Discretization and further refinement of the mesh is done to obtain more better approximation of the calcium flow. The results obtained here clearly show the significant impact of buffers on calcium diffusion.