title: Finite element simulations of acetylcholine diffusion in neuromuscular junctions.
abstract: A robust infrastructure for solving time-dependent diffusion using the finite element package FEtk has been developed to simulate synaptic transmission in a neuromuscular junction with realistic postsynaptic folds. Simplified rectilinear synapse models serve as benchmarks in initial numerical studies of how variations in geometry and kinetics relate to endplate currents associated with fast-twitch, slow-twitch, and dystrophic muscles. The flexibility and scalability of FEtk affords increasingly realistic and complex models that can be formed in concert with expanding experimental understanding from electron microscopy. Ultimately, such models may provide useful insight on the functional implications of controlled changes in processes, suggesting therapies for neuromuscular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ktai@mccammon.ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Kaihsu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Stephen D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: Hugh R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: MacMillan
authors.forename: Nathan Andrew
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Michael Jay
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Holst
authors.forename: J Andrew
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McCammon
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009038:Motion; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D000109:Acetylcholine