Smart J L, McCammon J A
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0365 USA.
Biophys J. 1998 Oct;75(4):1679-88. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77610-6.
There is a steadily growing body of experimental data describing the diffusion of acetylcholine in the neuromuscular junction and the subsequent miniature endplate currents produced at the postsynaptic membrane. To gain further insights into the structural features governing synaptic transmission, we have performed calculations using a simplified finite element model of the neuromuscular junction. The diffusing acetylcholine molecules are modeled as a continuum, whose spatial and temporal distribution is governed by the force-free diffusion equation. The finite element method was adopted because of its flexibility in modeling irregular geometries and complex boundary conditions. The resulting simulations are shown to be in accord with experiment and other simulations.
有越来越多的实验数据描述了乙酰胆碱在神经肌肉接头处的扩散以及随后在突触后膜产生的微小终板电流。为了进一步深入了解控制突触传递的结构特征，我们使用神经肌肉接头的简化有限元模型进行了计算。扩散的乙酰胆碱分子被建模为一个连续体，其空间和时间分布由无外力扩散方程控制。采用有限元方法是因为它在模拟不规则几何形状和复杂边界条件方面具有灵活性。结果表明，模拟结果与实验和其他模拟结果一致。
