Approximate analytical time-dependent solutions to describe large-amplitude local calcium transients in the presence of buffers

¹ Georg-August-University

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: smirono{at}gwdg.de.

Submitted on May 22, 2007
Revised on June 20, 2007
Accepted on 15 August 2007

	Abstract

Local Ca²⁺ signalling controls many neuronal functions, which selective triggering is often achieved through spatial localization of Ca²⁺ signals. These nanodomains are formed due to combined effects of Ca²⁺ diffusion and binding to the cytoplasmic buffers. In this paper we derived simple analytical expressions to describe Ca²⁺ diffusion in the presence of mobile and immobile buffers. A non-linear character of the reaction-diffusion problem was circumvented by introducing a logarithmic approximation of the concentration term. The obtained formulas reproduce free Ca²⁺ levels up to 50 µM and their changes in millisecond range. Derived equations can be useful to predict spatiotemporal profiles of large-amplitude [Ca²⁺] transients, which participate in various physiological processes.

Key Words: Calcium buffering, Explicit solution, Fast diffusion, Local calcium transients, Multiple buffers, Spatiotemporal profiles

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