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Calcium Waves, Models of

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Definition

A calcium wave is a transient rise in cytosolic calcium concentration that propagates spatially within the cell. It has the property that it is regenerative and is followed by a refractory period. It is believed that the wave carries a signal from one part of the cell to another.

Detailed Description

Calcium ions play an important role in a variety of cellular functions that impact nearly all aspects of cellular life. In fact, the calcium signal is one of the most versatile and universal signaling agents of the human body that controls almost everything we do – Ca2+ ions contribute to egg activation upon fertilization, muscle contraction, enzyme secretion, neurotransmitter release, how our brains process information and store memories, wound healing, and apoptosis. Calcium ions play such an important role in so many biological processes that it has been branded as the “life and death signal” (Berridge et al. 1998).

At rest, intracellular calcium concentration remains low,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Systems Biology and Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    M. Saleet Jafri & Aman Ullah

Authors
  1. M. Saleet Jafri
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  2. Aman Ullah
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Saleet Jafri .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Jafri, M.S., Ullah, A. (2015). Calcium Waves, Models of. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6675-8_182

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