[This is the old program from SS 2009. The current program and contact information can be found here.]

24 April 2009, 16:00

Sten Rüdiger (Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Modeling the dynamics of IP3 receptor channels

Abstract:
Calcium binding proteins (buffers) are fundamental in patterning the release of calcium through IP3 receptor channels. We studied the effects of buffers on the dynamics of single channels, clusters of channels, and arrays of clusters. The main conclusion from our simulations is that buffer acts very different in coordinating release in the three distinct spatial scales (single channel, cluster, array of clusters). Our simulations of a detailed model showed that BAPTA, a fast-binding protein, modulates release amplitude strongly for clusters. This supports an earlier suggestion of BAPTA disrupting intra-cluster communication. On the other hand, a model for release from an array of clusters showed a transition from global to local release mode upon addition of EGTA, a slow-binding buffer. Our results for intra-cluster dynamics can be explained by considering the generation of local calcium profiles under binding of buffer. We define a suitable average calcium concentration of active clusters (cluster domain concentration) and show that this quantity mediates the effects of buffers on calcium release. Cluster domain concentration may thus be useful for derivation of substantially reduced models of calcium and buffer dynamics.

15 May 2009, 16:00

Santiago Gil (Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Berlin)
Complex self-organized dynamics in oscillator networks and methods of its control [Abstract]

19 June 2009, 16:00

Matthew Downton (Institut für Theoretische Physik,Technische Universität Berlin)
Synchronization of rotating elastic filaments through hydrodynamic interactions [Abstract]

26 June 2009, 16:00

Jerzy Górecki (Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Science)
Information processing with a chemical reaction-diffusion medium [Abstract]

10 July 2009, 16:00

Christian Kleiber (Universität Basel, Switzerland)
Majorization and the Lorenz order [Abstract]

17 July 2009, 15:00

Makoto Iima (Laboratory of Nonlinear Studies and Computation, RIES, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan)
Hydrodynamical study of flapping models [Abstract]

17 July 2009, 16:15

Ernesto Nicola (Max-Planck-Institut für Physik Komplexer Systeme, Dresden)
How do cells break their symmetry? A reaction-diffusion model for cell polarization