ATP induced intracellular Ca2+ transient differences between the supporting cells of the hearing organ

Abstract

Intracellular Ca2+ in the supporting cells (Hensen’s cells, Deiters’ cells, Claudius’ cells) of the organ of Corti can be altered by ATP activating the purinergic receptor P2X and P2Y which will in turn activate the IP3 cascade, triggering calcium-induced calcium releases (CICR). Other structures that take part in increasing or decreasing the Ca2+ levels include the plasma membrane Ca2+/ATPase (PMCA) and the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+- ATPase (SERCA). A model for an intracellular Ca2+ transient was created for these parameters. The model is based on the Li Rinzel (1994) model. Real data was used to create the values for the different parameters.