02/08/2021
By Matthew Gage
All interested students and faculty members are invited to attend.
Abstract: Calcium (Ca2+) signaling is an important aspect that determines cellular functions in all living organisms. Intracellular Ca2+ migrates in the intracellular space in the form of waves. These waves show various spatiotemporal characteristics, such as Ca2+ wave direction, Ca2+ wave velocity, and Ca2+ concentration. Ca2+ activity in stimulated skeletal muscle fibers and B lymphocytes will be studied using confocal fluorescent microscopy and cell-permeable calcium dyes. The study hypothesis is that Ca2+ waves in stimulated Skeletal muscle fibers and B Lymphocytes initially propagate from localized Ca2+ clusters in different velocities affected by intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i), leading to a gradual cellular activation. Comparing the differences and similarities of the Ca2+ spatiotemporal dynamics in excitable and non-excitable cells, which contain different Ca2+ channels, will lead to a greater understanding of cellular Ca2+ signaling. Additionally, addressing the similarities and differences of Ca2+ dynamics in excitable and non-excitable cells can lead to advances in regulating and restoring altered Ca2+ transport in diseased cells.