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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/1999/11/929/ $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 147, Number 5, November 29, 1999 929-936

Brief Report

Brief Report

Charles C. Finka, Boris Slepchenkod, Ion I. Morarub, James Schaffd, James Watrasc, and Leslie M. Loewa,d
a Department of Physiology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030
b Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030
c Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030
d Center for Biomedical Imaging Technology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030

Correspondence to: Leslie M. Loew, Director, Center for Biomedical Imaging Technology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030. Tel:(860) 679-3568 Fax:(860) 679-1039 E-mail:les{at}volt.uchc.edu.

Inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)-mediated calcium signals represent an important mechanism for transmitting external stimuli to the cell. However, information about intracellular spatial patterns of InsP3 itself is not generally available. In particular, it has not been determined how the interplay of InsP3 generation, diffusion, and degradation within complex cellular geometries can control the patterns of InsP3 signaling. Here, we explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of [InsP3]cyt during a bradykinin-induced calcium wave in a neuroblastoma cell. This is achieved by using a unique image-based computer modeling system, Virtual Cell, to integrate experimental data on the rates and spatial distributions of the key molecular components of the process. We conclude that the characteristic calcium dynamics requires rapid, high-amplitude production of [InsP3]cyt in the neurite. This requisite InsP3 spatiotemporal profile is provided, in turn, as an intrinsic consequence of the cell's morphology, demonstrating how geometry can locally and dramatically intensify cytosolic signals that originate at the plasma membrane. In addition, the model predicts, and experiments confirm, that stimulation of just the neurite, but not the soma or growth cone, is sufficient to generate a calcium response throughout the cell.

Key Words: model, calcium, inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate, fluorescence microscopy, signal transduction


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