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Mathematical Modeling Of The American Lobster Cardiac Muscle Cell: An Investigation Of Calcium Ion Permeability And Force Of Contractions, Lauren A. Skerritt
Mathematical Modeling Of The American Lobster Cardiac Muscle Cell: An Investigation Of Calcium Ion Permeability And Force Of Contractions, Lauren A. Skerritt
Honors Projects
In the American lobster (Homarus americanus), neurogenic stimulation of the heart drives fluxes of calcium (Ca2+) into the cytoplasm of a muscle cell resulting in heart muscle contraction. The heartbeat is completed by the active transport of calcium out of the cytoplasm into extracellular and intracellular spaces. An increase in the frequency of calcium release is expected to increase amplitude and duration of muscle contraction. This makes sense because an increase in cytoplasmic calcium should increase the activation of the muscle contractile elements (actin and myosin). Since calcium cycling is a reaction-diffusion process, the extent to …