Two dimensional finite element estimation of calcium ions in presence of NCX and buffers in astrocytes

Abstract

Sodium calcium exchanger (NCX) plays effective role in signal transduction in most of the nerve cells like neuron and astrocytes. Sodium ion affects the cytosolic calcium concentration level in Astrocytes via various channels. This affects the movement of the nerve impulse from one cell to other cell. In this paper two dimensional model is developed in the form of diffusion equation to study the effect of NCX in presence and absence of buffer in Astrocytes. Finite element method is employed to solve the problem and simulated in Matlab to estimate the effect of various parameter like flux, diffusion coefficient, buffer concentration, etc.