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Modeling Mechanisms of Cell Secretion

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Abstract

Secretion is a fundamental cellular process involving the regulated release of intracellular products from cells. Physiological functions such as neurotransmission, or the release of hormones and digestive enzymes, are all governed by cell secretion. Anomalies in the processes involved in secretion contribute to the development and progression of diseases such as diabetes and other hormonal disorders. To unravel the mechanisms that govern such diseases, it is essential to understand how hormones, growth factors and neurotransmitters are synthesized and processed, and how their signals are recognized, amplified and transmitted by intracellular signaling pathways in the target cells. Here, we discuss diverse aspects of the detailed mechanisms involved in secretion based on mathematical models. The models range from stochastic ones describing the trafficking of secretory vesicles to deterministic ones investigating the regulation of cellular processes that underlie hormonal secretion. In all cases, the models are closely related to experimental results and suggest theoretical predictions for the secretion mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

KTA acknowledges funding from grant EP/E032249/1 of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). HMO was supported by an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship and an IGERT grant of the National Science Foundation. JT was supported by NIH grant DA-19356. MGP was supported by the Lundbeck Foundation and by the European Union through the Network of Excellence BioSim (contract no. LSHB-CT-2004-005137).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bristol Centre for Applied Nonlinear Mathematics, Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Queen’s Building, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TR, UK

    Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova & Hinke M. Osinga

  2. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Joël Tabak

  3. Department of Information Engineering, University of Padua, 35131, Padua, Italy

    Morten Gram Pedersen

Authors
  1. Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova
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  2. Hinke M. Osinga
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  3. Joël Tabak
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  4. Morten Gram Pedersen
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Correspondence to Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova.

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Tsaneva-Atanasova, K., Osinga, H.M., Tabak, J. et al. Modeling Mechanisms of Cell Secretion. Acta Biotheor 58, 315–327 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-010-9115-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-010-9115-8

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