title: Simulations of intracellular calcium release dynamics in response to a high-intensity, ultrashort electric pulse.
abstract: Numerical simulations for electrically induced, intracellular calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum are reported. A two-step model is used for self-consistency. Distributed electrical circuit representation coupled with the Smoluchowski equation yields the ER membrane nanoporation for calcium outflow based on a numerical simulation. This is combined with the continuum Li-Rinzel model and drift diffusion for calcium dynamics. Our results are shown to be in agreement with reported calcium release data. A modest increase (rough doubling) of the cellular calcium is predicted in the absence of extra-cellular calcium. In particular, the applied field of 15 kV/cm with 60 ns pulse duration makes for a strong comparison. No oscillations are predicted and the net recovery period of about 5 min are both in agreement with published experimental results. A quantitative explanation for the lack of such oscillatory behavior, based on the density dependent calcium fluxes, is also provided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529-0246, USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sridhara
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nuccitelli
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Beebe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolb
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Schoenbach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D018274:Electroporation; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009991:Oscillometry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium