dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThe electrophysiology of the betacell based on single transmembrane protein characteristics
| Authors | Michael Meyer-Hermann |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0702010 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0702010 |
Abstract
The electrophysiology of betacells is at the origin of insulin secretion. Betacells exhibit a complex behaviour upon stimulation with glucose including repeated and uninterrupted bursting. Mathematical modelling is most suitable to improve knowledge about the function of various transmembrane currents provided the model is based on reliable data. This is the first attempt to build a mathematical model for the betacell-electrophysiology in a bottom-up approach which relies on single protein conductivity data. The results of previous whole-cell-based models are reconsidered. The full simulation including all prominent transmembrane proteins in betacells is used to provide a functional interpretation of their role in betacell-bursting and an updated vantage point of betacell-electrophysiology. As a result of a number of in silico knock-out- and block-experiments the novel model makes some unexpected predictions: Single-channel conductivity data imply that calcium-gated potassium currents are rather small. Thus, their role in burst interruption has to be revisited. An alternative role in high calcium level oscillations is proposed and an alternative burst interruption model is presented. It also turns out that sodium currents are more relevant than expected so far. Experiments are proposed to verify these predictions.
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"abstract": "The electrophysiology of betacells is at the origin of insulin secretion.\nBetacells exhibit a complex behaviour upon stimulation with glucose including\nrepeated and uninterrupted bursting. Mathematical modelling is most suitable to\nimprove knowledge about the function of various transmembrane currents provided\nthe model is based on reliable data. This is the first attempt to build a\nmathematical model for the betacell-electrophysiology in a bottom-up approach\nwhich relies on single protein conductivity data. The results of previous\nwhole-cell-based models are reconsidered. The full simulation including all\nprominent transmembrane proteins in betacells is used to provide a functional\ninterpretation of their role in betacell-bursting and an updated vantage point\nof betacell-electrophysiology. As a result of a number of in silico knock-out-\nand block-experiments the novel model makes some unexpected predictions:\nSingle-channel conductivity data imply that calcium-gated potassium currents\nare rather small. Thus, their role in burst interruption has to be revisited.\nAn alternative role in high calcium level oscillations is proposed and an\nalternative burst interruption model is presented. It also turns out that\nsodium currents are more relevant than expected so far. Experiments are\nproposed to verify these predictions.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0702010",
"authors": [
"Michael Meyer-Hermann"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.CB",
"q-bio.QM"
],
"title": "The electrophysiology of the betacell based on single transmembrane protein characteristics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0702010"
},
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