Analytical solutions for nonlinear cable equations with calcium dynamics. I. Derivations

Abstract

The interaction between membrane potential and internal calcium concentration plays many important roles in regulating synaptic integration and neuronal firing. In order to gain a better theoretical understanding between the voltage-calcium interaction, a nonlinear cable equation with calcium dynamics is solved analytically. This general reaction-diffusion system represents a model of a cylindrical dendritic segment in which calcium diffuses internally in the presence of buffers, pumps and exchangers, and where ion channels are sparsely distributed over the membrane, in the form of hotspots, acting as point current sources along the dendritic membrane. In order to proceed, the reaction-diffusion system is recast into a system of coupled nonlinear integral equations, with which a perturbative expansion in dimensionless voltage and calcium concentration are used to find analytical solutions to this general system. The resulting solutions can be used to investigate, the interaction between the membrane potential and underlying calcium dynamics in a natural (non-discretized) setting.