A minimal model for the mitochondrial rapid mode of Ca²+ uptake mechanism.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Mitochondria possess a remarkable ability to rapidly accumulate and sequester Ca²?. One of the mechanisms responsible for this ability is believed to be the rapid mode (RaM) of Ca²? uptake. Despite the existence of many models of mitochondrial Ca²? dynamics, very few consider RaM as a potential mechanism that regulates mitochondrial Ca²? dynamics. To fill this gap, a novel mathematical model of the RaM mechanism is developed herein. The model is able to simulate the available experimental data of rapid Ca²? uptake in isolated mitochondria from both chicken heart and rat liver tissues with good fidelity. The mechanism is based on Ca²? binding to an external trigger site(s) and initiating a brief transient of high Ca²? conductivity. It then quickly switches to an inhibited, zero-conductive state until the external Ca²? level is dropped below a critical value (?100-150 nM). RaM's Ca²?- and time-dependent properties make it a unique Ca²? transporter that may be an important means by which mitochondria take up Ca²? in situ and help enable mitochondria to decode cytosolic Ca²? signals. Integrating the developed RaM model into existing models of mitochondrial Ca²? dynamics will help elucidate the physiological role that this unique mechanism plays in mitochondrial Ca²?-homeostasis and bioenergetics.
SUBMITTER: Bazil JN
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3121760 | biostudies-literature | 2011
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
ACCESS DATA