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Modelling Human Colonic Smooth Muscle Cell Electrophysiology

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Abstract

The colon is a digestive organ that is subject to a wide range of motility disorders. However, our understanding of the etiology of these disorders is far from complete. In this study, a quantitative single cell model has been developed to describe the electrical behaviour of a human colonic smooth muscle cell (hCSMC). This model includes the pertinent ionic channels and intracellular calcium homoeostasis. These components are believed to contribute significantly to the electrical response of the hCSMC during a slow wave. The major ion channels were constructed based on published data recorded from isolated human colonic myocytes. The whole cell model is able to reproduce experimentally recorded slow waves from human colonic muscles. This represents the first biophysically-detailed model of a hCSMC and provides a means to better understand colonic disorders.

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Acknowledgments

Funding support from the National University of Singapore Research Scholarship is gratefully acknowledged.

Conflict of Interest

Jing Wui Yeoh, Alberto Corrias, and Martin Lindsay Buist have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, Block E4, #04-08, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore, 117583, Singapore

    Jing Wui Yeoh, Alberto Corrias & Martin L. Buist

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  1. Jing Wui Yeoh
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  2. Alberto Corrias
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Correspondence to Martin L. Buist.

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Associate Editor Chwee Teck Lim oversaw the review of this article.

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Yeoh, J.W., Corrias, A. & Buist, M.L. Modelling Human Colonic Smooth Muscle Cell Electrophysiology. Cel. Mol. Bioeng. 10, 186–197 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-017-0479-6

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