Channel capacity of calcium signalling based on inter-cellular calcium waves in astrocytes

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the channel capacity of the calcium signalling system based on an inter-cellular calcium wave model for astrocytes in the literature. Calcium signalling is a good candidate for molecular communication due to its long communication range, possible usage of existing cellular infrastructure, and its minimally invasive nature. Calcium waves are formed by the cytosolic oscillations of Ca <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2+</sup> ion concentration, which propagates through neighbouring cells via secondary messenger molecules. Understanding the dynamics and physical properties of inter-cellular calcium waves is expected to produce an effective solution for the nano device communication problem. Thus, we extend the models developed in the literature to offer a calcium signalling scheme built on two cells and investigate the channel capacity depending on noise level and symbol duration. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first channel capacity analysis of calcium wave model that includes intercellular dynamics.