FINITE ELEMENT MODEL TO STUDY THE MECHANICS OF CALCIUM REGULATION IN OOCYTE

At various stages of fertilization specific spatial and temporal patterns of Ca2+ are required for oocyte maturation. It is crucial to understand the mechanics of Ca2+ regulation in cytosol of oocytes, in order to have better understanding of fertilization process. In this paper, a finite element model of cytosolic calcium regulation in oocyte has been developed for a two-dimensional unsteady state case. The model incorporates the important biophysical processes like diffusion, reaction, leak from endoplasmic recticulum (ER), efflux from cytosol to ER via sarco-ER calcium adenosine triphosphate (SERCA) pumps, buffers and sodium calcium exchanger. Appropriate boundary conditions have been framed. The effect of source, buffer, sodium calcium exchanger, etc. on spatial and temporal patterns of calcium in oocyte have been studied with the help of numerical results.