Finite element simulations of acetylcholine diffusion in neuromuscular junctions.
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.
Tai
Kaihsu
K
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ktai@mccammon.ucsd.edu
Bond
Stephen D
SD
MacMillan
Hugh R
HR
Baker
Nathan Andrew
NA
Holst
Michael Jay
MJ
McCammon
J Andrew
JA
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
D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D000109:Acetylcholine