A recent article that featured in the University's main news, 'Subcellular calcium dynamics in a whole-cell model of an atrial myocyte' has been selected by the organisation F1000 as one of the worlds top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine. The article, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in February this year, provides valuable insights into sub-cellular calcium signalling, and was authored by Dr Rudiger Thul together with Prof Stephen Coombes (both CMMB) and Drs Roderick and Bootman (both Babraham Institute, Cambridge).
The organisation, 'Faculty of 1000' identifies and evaluates the most important articles in biology and medical research publications. Articles are selected by a peer-nominated global 'Faculty' of the world's leading scientists and clinicians who then rate them and explain their importance. Faculty now numbers more than 10,000 experts worldwide and their evaluations form a database of more than 100,000 records.
They list the article as a 'Must Read' and comment that: 'This computational approach to intracellular calcium dynamics nicely demonstrates the primary role played by the geometrical arrangement of calcium channels. By combining a simplified kinetic description of calcium-induced calcium release and a detailed modelling of the geometry of atrial myocytes and of dyadic junctions, the authors can simulate and analyse key features of these cells, such as the centripetal propagation of calcium waves. Interestingly, the model predicts the existence of sustained, pro-arrhythmic calcium waves that have not yet been observed experimentally and could occur under pathological conditions associated with ryanodine receptor dysfunctions.'
Posted on Wednesday 29th February 2012