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Workshop 3: Signal Transduction I: Calcium Dynamics, Phototransduction, and Olfaction (January 26-30, 2004)

Organizers: James Sneyd and Mike Sanderson

In this workshop, we shall study mathematical models for the processes whereby a cell converts an external signal into a signal of a different kind, with particular emphasis upon those transduction mechanisms that rely on the dynamic control of the intracellular calcium concentration. For instance, in response to an external signal such as a neurotransmitter or a hormone, many cell types exhibit oscillations in the concentration of intracellular free calcium, oscillations which themselves control a variety of intracellular processes, including secretion, gene expression, cell movement, or wound repair. In muscle cells, the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum controls muscle contraction, while in photoreceptors calcium forms an important negative feedback loop that controls adaptation. In neurosecretory cells, oscillations of the cytoplasmic calcium concentration lead to hormone secretion. Thus, calcium is an integral part of many different transduction processes. It aids in the conversion of an electrical signal to a force (muscle cells), it aids in the conversion of a light signal to an electrical signal (photoreceptors), and it aids in the conversion of one hormonal signal to another hormonal signal or an electrical signal to a hormonal signal (neurosecretory cells).

Mathematical tools: ODEs, PDEs, bifurcation theory, nonlinear traveling waves, excitability, stochastic models, perturbation theory