Intercellular synchronization of diffusively coupled Ca2+ oscillators

Abstract

We examine the synchrony in the dynamics of localized [Ca 2+ ] i oscillations among a group of cells exhibiting such complex Ca 2+ oscillations, connected in the form of long chain, via diffusing coupling where cytosolic Ca 2+ and inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate are coupling molecules. Based on our numerical results, we could able to identify three regimes, namely desynchronized, transition and synchronized regimes in the (T − k e ) (time period-coupling constant) and (A − k e ) (amplitude-coupling constant) spaces which are supported by phase plots ( φ verses time) and recurrence plots, respectively. We further show the increase of synchronization among the cells as the number of coupling molecules increases in the (T − k e ) and (A − k e ) spaces.

Minimal model of calcium dynamics in two heterogeneous coupled cells

“…Phase-difference approximations can be used to describe the dynamics of pairs of electrically coupled neural oscillators, such as the Fitzhugh-Nagumo equations or Morris-Lecar model [33,35,36], but this approximation is only valid for weak coupling. Synchronisation of Ca 2+ dynamics in systems of two coupled cell models has also been studied in [37][38][39][40][41].…”