Decoding the Bell-Shaped Calcium Spikes in Phosphorylation Cycles of Flagella

• Main Authors: Nemeš, T. (Author), Satarić, M. (Author), Tuszynski, J. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: NLM (Medline) 2022
• Subjects: axoneme; Axoneme; calcium; Calcium; calcium intake; calcium signaling; Calcium Signaling; calcium spike signaling; Calcium, Dietary; dynein adenosine triphosphatase; dynein motors; Dyneins; Flagella; flagellum; ion; Ions; metabolism; microtubule; Microtubules; phosphorylation; Phosphorylation; physiology
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 We investigate the messenger role of calcium ions implicated in the regulation of wave-like bending dynamics of flagella. The emphasis is on microtubules of flagellar axoneme serving as nonlinear transmission lines for bell-shaped spikes of calcium ions. The calcium sensitive proteins, such as calmodulin, exhibit activation dependence on the spike train frequency and amplitude. Here, we analyze a Ca2+ decoding module IDA-I1 whose activity is controlled by Ca2+ activated kinase. We find that trains of Ca2+ spikes are advantageous compared to a constant rise in Ca2+ concentration as being more efficient and much less prone to noisy fluctuations.