Design and analysis of a cluster-based calcium signaling network model

Nanonetwork, which is a new research area, is defined as a number of nanoscale components communicating and sharing information cooperatively. Recent research progress concerning nanonetwork includes carbon nanotube network, electromagnetic nanonetwork, molecular communication and so on. Molecular communication which comprises mobile or immobile biological nanomachines contributes to areas such as therapeutics, environment, food safety and agriculture. Calcium signaling employs calcium ion (Ca²⁺), which is one of the most important universal second messengers to spread information in tissues. Gap junction channel is formed by cell membranes of adjacent cells which enables calcium wave transmission. The permeability of gap junction can be regulated by external signals thus controlling the transmission of intercellular calcium waves. In this paper, we propose a cluster-based network model which is composed of cells and nanosensors utilizing the properties of calcium signaling. The characterizations and advantages of the network model are presented along with the comparison with the biological experiment results. The comparison shows that our proposed network model not only correctly simulates the biological behaviour but also shows how the biological communication can be enhanced via external intervention.