Spatiotemporal dynamics of Ca2+ signaling and its physiological roles

Changes in the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration regulate numerous cell functions and display diverse spatiotemporal dynamics, which underlie the versatility of Ca²⁺ in cell signaling. In many cell types, an increase in the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration starts locally, propagates within the cell (Ca²⁺ wave) and makes oscillatory changes (Ca²⁺ oscillation). Studies of the intracellular Ca²⁺ release mechanism from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) showed that the Ca²⁺ release mechanism has inherent regenerative properties, which is essential for the generation of Ca²⁺ waves and oscillations. Ca²⁺ may shuttle between the ER and mitochondria, and this appears to be important for pacemaking of Ca²⁺ oscillations. Importantly, Ca²⁺ oscillations are an efficient mechanism in regulating cell functions, having effects supra-proportional to the sum of duration of Ca²⁺ increase. Furthermore, Ca²⁺ signaling mechanism studies have led to the development of a method for specific inhibition of Ca²⁺ signaling, which has been used to identify hitherto unrecognized functions of Ca²⁺ signals.     

单个心肌细胞内钙波的微观动力学研究

利用基于近场光学原理构建的全内反射荧光显微镜研究了大鼠单个心肌细胞中的钙信号. 利用这种显微镜的快速成像和高信噪比的特点，观察到单个细胞中复杂的二维钙波斑图. 分析了单个钙信号释放事件在钙波形成、运动过程中的作用. 建立在fire-diffuse-fire模型基础上的模拟显示，由基本钙释放事件组成的钙波可以在心肌细胞中稳定存在. 此研究对进一步认识活体可激发系统的微观动力学行为有指导意义. 关键词： 近场光学 全内反射荧光显微镜 心肌细胞 钙波     

Numerical study of IP3-induced Ca2+ spiral pattern evolution

The effect of change in concentration of messenger molecule inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IPspiral wave, Ca$^{2 + }$, IPspiral wave, Ca$^{2 + }$, IP$_{3}$Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10575041 and 10747005)0545The effect of change in concentration of messenger molecule inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP$_{3})$ on intracellular Ca$^{2 + }$spiral pattern evolution is studied numerically. The results indicate that when the IP$_{3}$ concentration decreases from 0.27\,$\mu $M, a physiologically reasonable value, to different values, the spiral centre drifts to the edge of the medium and disappears for a small enough IP$_{3}$ concentration. The instability of spiral pattern can be understood in terms of excitability-change controlled by the IP$_{3}$ concentration. On the other hand, when the IP$_{3}$ concentration increases from 0.27\,$\mu $M, a homogeneous area with a high Ca$^{2 + }$ concentration emerges and competes with the spiral pattern. A high enough IP$_{3}$ concentration can lead the homogeneous area to occupy the whole medium. The instability of spiral pattern is ascribed to the change in stability of a stationary state with a high Ca$^{2 + }$ concentration.     

Reading the patterns in living cells —the physics of ca2+ signaling

Ca²⁺ is one of the most important messengers. It transmits signals inside living cells and takes part in intercellular coordination. The dynamics of the Ca²⁺ concentration shows a transition from elemental, stochastic events to global events like waves and oscillations. This transition renders it an ideal tool for studying basic concepts of pattern formation, especially since access to the most important experimental parameters is given. Ca²⁺ dynamics in living cells has been a major topic of biophysical modelling in the last 15 years. Modelling has reached the level of predictive power. The theoretical analysis of waves provided new insight into the mechanisms of Ca²⁺ signaling and led to new concepts of analysis of wave equations with concentration dependent diffusion and novel wave bifurcations. Modelling of oscillations provided understanding especially of complex oscillations and allowed to extract information about the underlying cellular parameters and mechanisms. The investigation of the stochastic aspects of intracellular Ca²⁺ dynamics demonstrated the fundamental role of fluctuations arising from the control of the release channel by Ca²⁺ and IP₃. This review presents an overview of current theoretical research on Ca²⁺ dynamics in living cells driven by the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor channel.     

The bifurcation and peakons for the special C (3, 2, 2) equation

In this paper, we investigate a special C(3, 2, 2) equation $$\begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} u_{t}+ku_{x}-u_{xxt}+3(u^{3})_{x}=u_{x}(u^{2})_{xx}+u(u^{2})_{xxx}. \end{array} $$ The bifurcation and some new exact representations of peakons, bell-shaped solitary wave solutions and periodic cusp wave solutions for the equation are obtained using the qualitative theory of dynamical systems. It is shown that the peakons are actually the limit of bell-shaped solitary waves and periodic cusp waves. Moreover, a new characteristic of non-smooth solutions, two peakons coexisting for the same wave speed, is found. Some previous results are extended.     

The band spectrum of SbO: A new doublet system

The band spectrum of SbO was excited in a heavy current discharge from a 2000 volt D. C. generator. A new doublet system of bands occurring in the region λ 2800 toλ 3600 arising from a transition of the type²Δ_r?² Π _r was identified. The lower² Π _r state is found to be common to those of the three band systems reported earlier, which is in all probability the ground state of the SbO molecule. The band heads of the high frequency and low frequency components could be represented by the following quantum formulae:

$$\begin{gathered} ^2 \Delta _{\tfrac{3}{2}} - ^2 \Pi _{\tfrac{1}{2}} : \hfill \\ v = 29754 \cdot 6 + 570 \cdot 6 (v' + \tfrac{1}{2}) - 3 \cdot 52 (v' + \tfrac{1}{2})^2 - 820 \cdot 5 (v'' + \tfrac{1}{2}) + 4 \cdot 62 (v'' + \tfrac{1}{2})^2 \hfill \\ ^2 \Delta _{\tfrac{5}{2}} - ^2 \Pi _{\tfrac{3}{2}} : \hfill \\ v = 28044 \cdot 8 + 568 \cdot 1 (v' + \tfrac{1}{2}) - 3 \cdot 28 (v' + \tfrac{1}{2})^2 - 819 \cdot 2 (v'' + \tfrac{1}{2}) + 4 \cdot 62 (v'' + \tfrac{1}{2})^2 . \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$     

Intracellular Ca2+ nonlinear wave behaviours in a three dimensional ventricular cell model

Intracellular Ca²⁺ activity regulates a wide range of cellular biochemical processes; in muscle cells, it links membrane excitation to contraction. Ca²⁺ dynamics includes both synchronous oscillations, and nonlinear wave phenomena, both arising from the superposition of spatially localised stochastic events, such as Ca²⁺ sparks. We incorporated individualised cell geometry reconstructed from confocal microscopy with realistic spatial distribution of RyR clusters into the three dimensional ventricular cell model, and reproduced complex spatio-temporal intracellular wave patterns from Ca²⁺ sparks. We also introduced a detailed nuclear Ca²⁺ handing model to simulate prolonged nuclear Ca²⁺ transient, and study the effects of cytosolic-nuclear coupling on intracellular Ca²⁺ dynamics. The model provides a computational platform to study intracellular Ca²⁺ with the ability to interact with experimental measurements of subcellular structures, and can be modified for other cell types.     

Numerical Simulations of Calcium Ions Spiral Wave in Single Cardiac Myocyte

The calcium ions （Ca^2＋） spark is an elementary Ca^2＋ release event in cardiac myocytes. It is believed to buildup cell-wide Ca^2＋ signals, such as Ca^2＋ transient and Ca^2＋ wave, through a Ca^2＋-induced Ca^2＋ release （CICR） mechanism. Here the excitability of the Ca^2＋ wave in a single cardiac myoeyte is simulated by employing the fire-diffuse-fire model. By modulating the dynamic parameters of Ca^2＋ release and re-uptake channels, we find three Ca^2＋ signaling states in a single cardiac myoeyte： no wave, plane wave, and spiral wave. The period of a spiral wave is variable in the different regimes. This study indicates that the spiral wave or the excitability of the system can be controlled through micro-modulation in a living excitable medium.     

Synthesis and characterization of Ca2Sn1-xCexO4 with blue luminescence originating from Ce^4＋ charge transfer transition

Ce^4＋-doped Ca2SnO4 with a one-dimensional structure, which emits bright blue light, is prepared by using a solid-state reaction method. The x-ray diffraction results show that the Ce^4＋ ions doped in Ca2SnO4 occupy the Sn^4＋ sites. The excitation and emission spectra of Ca2Sn1-xCexO4 appear to have broad bands with peaks at - 268nm and -442nm, respectively. A long excited-state lifetime （-83μs） for the emission from Ca2Sn1-xCexO4 suggests that the luminescence originates from a ligand-to-metal Ce^4＋ charge transfer （CT）. The luminescent properties of Ca2Snl_xCexO4 have been compared with those of Sr2CeO4, which is the only material reported so far to show Ce^4＋ CT luminescence. More interestingly, it is observed that the emission intensity of Ca2Sn1-xCexO4 with a small doping concentration （x - 0.03） is comparable to that of Sr2CeO4 in which the concentration of active centre is 100%.     

The band spectrum of PO: Two new doublet systems in the ultraviolet

The band spectrum of PO was excited in a high frequency discharge from a 1/2 kW oscillator working at a frequency of 30 to 40 Mc/sec. A new doublet system of bands degraded to red designated asC′?X ² Π _r occuring in the region λ 2200–λ 2900 was observed and analyzed. The following vibrational quantum formula was derived for the inner heads (R ₁ andQ ₂)

$$\begin{gathered} v = ^{43854 \cdot 5} + 825 \cdot 8(\upsilon ' + \tfrac{1}{2}) - 6 \cdot 44(\upsilon ' + \tfrac{1}{2})^2 \hfill \\ ^{43631 \cdot 4} - 1232 \cdot 6(\upsilon '' + \tfrac{1}{2}) - 6 \cdot 48(\upsilon '' + \tfrac{1}{2})^2 . \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$     

The electronic structure and photoluminescence properties of Ca2GeO4:Eu in ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet region

Ca₂GeO₄:Eu³⁺ phosphors were synthesized by the solid state method. The ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet excited photoluminescence properties were investigated in detail. It revealed that the emission of Ca₂GeO₄:Eu³⁺ comprised two parts: the red emission of Eu³⁺ and host defect emission in 330-550 nm. Ca₂GeO₄:Eu³⁺ presented intense excitation intensity at 163-200 and 466 nm, which suggested the potential applications in plasma display panels and light emitting diodes. The excitation spectra were studied to identify the photoluminescence mechanisms of Ca₂GeO₄:Eu³⁺. First principles calculation within the local density approximation of the density functional theory was applied to calculate the electronic structure and linear optical properties of Ca₂GeO₄.     

Ce4+离子在Ca2SnO4一维结构基质中的电荷迁移光谱研究

利用高温固相反应法制备了Ca₂Sn_1-xCe_xO₄和Ca_2-ySr_ySn_1-xCe_xO₄一维结构发光体. XPS结果显示 Ca₂SnO₄拥有两种结合能分别为5277 eV和5293 关键词： 2Sn_1-xCe_xO₄')" href="#">Ca₂Sn_1-xCe_xO₄ 2-ySr_ySn_1-xCe_xO₄')" href="#">Ca_2-ySr_ySn_1-xCe_xO₄ 一维结构 电荷迁移光谱     

A first-principles study of the catalytic mechanism of the dehydriding reaction of LiNH2 through adding Ti catalysts

Experiments on a ball milled mixture with a 1:1 molar ratio of LiNH2 and LiH with a small amount(1 mol %) of Ti nano,TiCl3 and TiO nano 2 have revealed a superior catalytic effect on Li-N-H hydrogen storage materials.In the x-ray diffraction profiles,no trace of Ti nano,TiCl3 and TiO nano 2 was found in these doped composites,by which we deduced that Ti atoms enter LiNH2 by partial element substitution.A first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory has been used to investigate the catalytic effects of Ti catalysts on the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2 system.The results show that Ti substitution can reduce the dehydrogenation reaction activation energy of LiNH2 and improve the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2.Based on the analysis of the density of states and overlap populations for LiNH2 before and after Ti substitution,it was found that the stability of the system of LiNH2 is reduced,which originates from the increase of the valence electrons at the Fermi level(EF) and the decrease of the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) gap(△EH-L) near E F.The catalytic effect of Ti on the dehydrogenating kinetics of LiNH2 may be attributed to the reduction of average populations between N-H per unit bond length(nm-1),which leads to the reduction of the chemical bond strength of N-H.     

Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence of Ce and Eu in Ca2Al2SiO7 matrix

The Ca₂Al₂SiO₇ samples doped with Ce³⁺ and Eu²⁺ are synthesized via a high temperature solid-state reaction. Ca₂Al₂SiO₇: Ce³⁺ emits a strong UV-violet emission while Ca₂Al₂SiO₇: Eu²⁺ emits a blue-green emission. The Stokes shift of the latter is greater due to a stronger crystal repulsion from ligands to Eu²⁺ ions. Ca₂Al₂SiO₇: Ce³⁺ exhibits a stronger initial intensity and longer duration of afterglow due to the higher liberated probability of the trapped carriers. The thermoluminescence curves reveal that at least three traps exist in the phosphors. Ca²⁺ vacancies may enhance the electron trapping and then lead to a stronger afterglow. A possible explanation will be provided.     

The concentration quenching and crystallographic sites of Eu2+ in Ca2BO3Cl

A yellow phosphor, Ca2BO3CI：Eu2＋, is prepared by the high-temperature solid-state method. Under the condition of excitation sources ranging from ultraviolet to visible light, efficient yellow emission can be observed. The emission spectrum shows an asymmetrical single intensive band centred at 573 nm, which corresponds to the 4f65dl→4f7 transition of Eu2＋. Eu2＋ ions occupy two types of Ca2＋ sites in the Ca2BO3C1 lattice and form two corresponding emission centres, respectively, which lead to the asymmetrical emission of Eu2＋ in Ca2BO3C1. The emission intensity of Eu2＋ in Ca2BO3C1 is influenced by the Eu2＋ doping concentration. Concentration quenching is discovered, and its mechanism is verified to be a dipole-dipole interaction. The value of the critical transfer distance is calculated to be 2.166 nm, which is in good agreement with the 2.120 nm value derived from the experimental data.     

Ca2SiO4:Dy3+材料的制备及其发光特性

采用高温固相法制备了Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺发光材料.在365nm紫外光激发下,测得Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺材料的发射光谱为一多峰宽谱,主峰分别位于486nm,575nm和665nm处;监测575nm发射峰,测得材料的激发光谱为一多峰宽谱,主峰分别位于331nm,361nm,371nm,397nm,435nm,461nm和478nm处.研究了Dy³⁺掺杂浓度对Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺材料发射光谱及发光强度的影响,结果显示,随Dy³⁺浓度的增大,黄、蓝发射峰强度比(Y/B)逐渐增大,利用Judd-Ofelt理论解释了其原因;随Dy³⁺浓度的增大,Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺材料发光强度先增大,在Dy³⁺浓度为4 mol%时到达峰值,而后减小,根据Dexter理论其浓度猝灭机理为电偶极-电偶极相互作用.研究了电荷补偿剂Li⁺,Na⁺和K⁺对Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺材料发射光谱的影响,结果显示,不同电荷补偿剂下,随电荷补偿剂掺杂浓度的增大,Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺材料发射光谱强度的演化趋势相同,即Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺材料发射峰强度先增大后减小,但不同电荷补偿剂下,材料发射峰强度最大处对应的补偿剂浓度不同,对应Li⁺,Na⁺和K⁺时,浓度分别为4mol%,4mol%和3mol%. 关键词： 白光LED 2SiO₄:Dy³⁺')" href="#">Ca₂SiO₄:Dy³⁺ 发光特性 电荷补偿     

Twin Boundaries in Zinc Oxide with Additions of Gallium Oxide

Twin boundaries (TBs) in ZnO sintered with small additions of Ga₂O₃ have been characterized with advanced methods of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The TBs and accompanying inversion domain boundaries are on {011¯3} planes of ZnO. The Ga content of the TB corresponds to an effectively half occupied {011¯3} plane determined from compositional maps calculated from electron spectroscopic images using electron filtering TEM. The structure of the TBs were investigated by high-resolution TEM, and images of focus series were used to reconstruct the complex electron wave. Simulated electron waves based on structure models of the TB were quantitatively compared with the reconstructed wave to identify and to refine atom positions. The twins can be considered to be created by a mirror operation on a {011¯3} plane of ZnO, and two alternating closed-packed polyhedral clusters of oxygen ions can be identified as building units of the TB structure. Unit 1 is occupied with Zn²⁺ by simply continuing ZnO₄ tetrahedra of the same type from both crystals to the TB. Using arguments of local charge balance unit 2 can only be occupied with the trivalent Ga³⁺ ion. The Ga³⁺ position was refined with high precision (±5 pm), and the resulting polyhedron is a GaO₅ square pyramid. The pyramids form densely occupied columns parallel to the twin axis [21¯1¯0]. The analysis of the TB structure yields a fractional occupancy of the boundary plane by Ga of 0.5, which is in good agreement with the result of the chemical composition measurement with energy filtered TEM.     

35Cl NQR spectra of group 1 and silver dichloromethanesulfonates

The dichloromethanesulfonates of silver and other +1-charged cations, M ^?+?(Cl₂CHSO $_{3}^{-})$ (M = Ag, Tl, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) were synthesized and studied by ³⁵Cl NQR. Dichloromethanesulfonic acid was prepared by the methanolysis of dichloromethanesulfonyl chloride, and was then neutralized with the carbonates of the +1-charged cations to produce the corresponding dichloromethanesulfonate salt. This NQR study completed the investigation of the chloroacetates and chloromethanesulfonates of silver, Ag^?+?(Cl _x CH_3???x SO $_{3}^{-})$ and Ag^?+?(Cl _x CH_3???x CO $_{2}^{-})$ , and suggests (1) that the ability of organochlorine atoms to coordinate to silver decreases as the number of electron-withdrawing groups (Cl, SO $_{3}^{-}$ , CO $_{2}^{-})$ attached to the carbon atom increases; (2) that the unusually large NQR spectral width found among M ^?+?(Cl₂CHCO $_{2}^{-})$ salts is not present among M ^?+?(Cl₂CHSO $_{3}^{-})$ salts, and therefore is not generally characteristic of the dichloromethyl group in salts.     

Spectroscopy of Sm3+ activator centers in Ca3Ga2Ge4O14 single crystals

Results of investigations of spectroscopic properties of Ca₃Ga₂Ge₄O₁₄ single crystals activated with Sm³⁺ ions are reported. It is shown that Sm³⁺ ions in Ca₃Ga₂Ge₄O₁₄ form a type of activator quasicenter whose nature is associated with disordering of the matrix. I. Franko Lvov State University, 50, Dragomanov St., Lvov, Ukraine. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 296–298, March–April, 1998.     

Spatiotemporal Aspects of Prolactin-Induced Calcium Signaling

We have examined the spatiotemporal aspects of PRL-induced Ca²⁺ signals using high-speed fluo-3 confocal imaging. We found that PRL stimulated Ca²⁺ entry and intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization. Ca²⁺ influx was seen as a peripheral increase in [Ca²⁺]_i without amplification in the nucleus region. Intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization was seen as a propagating intracellular calcium wave with a strong amplification in the nuclear region. The amplitude of PRL-induced Ca²⁺ increases would be sufficient to stimulate cell proliferation. Furthermore, PRL induced an increase in [³H]thymidine incorporation. These data suggest that PRL would be able to induce mitogenesis through a Ca²⁺-dependent pathway.