Ca2+ dynamics in auditory and vestibular hair cells: Monte Carlo simulations and experimental results.

We developed a simulation code in the Matlab environment for the study, using the Monte Carlo method, of cellular phenomena involving diffusion, buffering, extrusion and release of Ca2+. In particular we simulated the entry of Ca2+ at individual presynaptic active zones (hotspots) of auditory and vestibular hair cells, where Ca2+ plays a fundamental role in the transduction of mechanical stimuli, due to sound or acceleration, into electrical signals to be sent to the brain. The realistic reconstruction, in three dimensions, of the cellular boundaries and the derivation of the virtual fluorescence ratio ΔF/F0 (equivalent to the one computed from fluorescence microscopy experiments) allowed us (i) to directly compare simulations to experimental data, (ii) to supply an estimate of the equivalent concentration of Ca2+ reactants (buffers) and (iii) to show how the mass action law hypothesis brakes down because of the local non equilibrium of the system.