| Cytoplasmic calcium plays a dual role in cellular physiology. On one hand it acts as a second messenger in intra-cellular signalling, and on the other hand it is also the trigger for calcium dependent apopotosis. A mechanistic explanation of this dual role of cytoplasmic calcium was proposed by Ichas and Mazat. Their hypothesis involved the permeability transition pore was based on the observation that the permeability transition pore can exist in multiple conductance states. Specifically there exist a persistent high conductance state and a transitory low conductance state. Ichas et.al. also observed that the low conductance state is opened by a rise in mitochondrial matrix pH, in contrast to what was already know about the high conductance state, which opens in response to prolonged elevation of mitochondrial calcium. In this dissertation we build a detailed, physiological model of the mitochondrial switch between calcium signalling and cell death based on a simple three state model of the permeability transition pore. This model agrees with the substance of the Ichas and Mazat hypothesis and provides a substrate for further modeling to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of mitochondrial involvement in intracellular calcium signalling, and the interaction of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum during this process. |
