DIGITAL ARCHIPELAGO

‘Understanding the secretory machinery of living cells: mathematical models and computational tools’

Biomedicine and Health

Biomedical Research

2004

The aim of this project is the development of theoretical models and software for the simulation of secretory processes. The resulting software will serve as an instrument for the verification of biological hypotheses and for inferring information on the parameters driving the system, subject to experimental contrast.

DIRECTOR

José Javier Segura Sala

RESEARCH TEAM

Amparo Gil Gómez, Bernart Soria Escoms, José Javier Segura Sala.

COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONS

Universidad de Cantabria

DESCRIPTION

Our study will cover secretory systems with very different time scales: from synaptic processes to pancreatic beta-cells.The computational schemes should describe, among others, physico-chemical processes such as the entry of calcium into the cytoplasm and the dynamics of the calcium channels involved, the diffusion of ions inside the intracellular media as well as the response to the secretion.The main objective of the present project is therefore to develop theoretical (mathematical) and computational models to simulate the secretory response in a realistic way. The development software will allow experimentalists to perform simulated experiments on secretory systems before starting the laboratory protocols. There is a strong demand for reliable and flexible software for simulating exocytotic processes, and this project will cover a large part of these needs.