Fire–diffuse–fire model of dynamics of intracellular calcium waves
- *Departamento de Física Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón I, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina; †Institute of Theoretical Dynamics & Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; and ‡XCM MS F645, Computational Science Methods, Applied Theoretical Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545
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Communicated by Harry L. Swinney, University of Texas, Austin, TX (received for review August 20, 1998)
Abstract
When Ca2+ is released from internal stores in living cells, the resulting wave of increased concentration can travel without deformation (continuous propagation) or with burst-like behavior (saltatory propagation). We analyze the “fire–diffuse–fire” model in order to illuminate the differences between these two modes of propagation. We show that the Ca2+ release wave in immature Xenopus oocytes and cardiac myocytes is saltatory, whereas the fertilization wave in the mature oocyte is continuous.
Footnotes
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↵ § To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: pearson{at}lanl.gov.
- Copyright © 1999, The National Academy of Sciences
