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G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) mediated calcium (Ca 2+)-signaling transduction remains crucial in designing drugs for various complex diseases including neurodegeneration, chronic heart failure as well as respiratory diseases. Although there are several reviews detailing various aspects of Ca 2+-signaling such as the role of IP 3 receptors and Ca 2+-induced-Ca 2+-release, none of them provide an integrated view of the mathematical descriptions of GPCR signal transduction and investigations on dose-response curves. This article is the first study in reviewing the network structures underlying GPCR signal transduction that control downstream [Ca c 2+ ]oscillations. The central theme of this paper is to present the biochemical pathways, as well as molecular mechanisms underlying the GPCR-mediated Ca 2+-dynamics in order to facilitate a better understanding of how agonist concentration is encoded in Ca 2+-signals for G αq , G αs , and G αi/o signaling pathways. Moreover, we present the GPCR targeting drugs that are relevant for treating cardiac, respiratory, and neuro-diseases. The current paper presents the ODE formulation for various models along with the detailed schematics of signaling networks. To provide a systems perspective, we present the network motifs that can provide readers an insight into the complex and intriguing science of agonist-mediated Ca 2+-dynamics. One of the features of this review is to pinpoint the interplay between positive and negative feedback loops that are involved in controlling intracellular [Ca c 2+ ]-oscillations. Furthermore, we review several examples of dose-response curves obtained from [Ca c 2+ ]-spiking for various GPCR pathways. This paper is expected to be useful for pharmacologists and computational biologists for designing clinical applications of GPCR targeting drugs through modulation of Ca 2+dynamics.

The development of a minimally invasive, robust, and inexpensive technique that permits real‐time monitoring of cell responses on biomaterial scaffolds can improve the eventual outcomes of scaffold‐based tissue engineering strategies. Towards establishing correlations between in situ biological activity and cell fate, we have developed a comprehensive workflow for real‐time volumetric imaging of spatiotemporally varying cytosolic calcium oscillations in pure microglial cells cultured on electrospun meshes. Live HMC3 cells on randomly oriented electrospun fibers were stained with a fluorescent dye and imaged using a laser scanning confocal microscope. Resonance scanning provided high‐resolution in obtaining the time‐course of intracellular calcium levels without compromising spatial and temporal resolution. Three‐dimensional reconstruction and depth‐coding enabled the visualization of cell location and intracellular calcium levels as a function of sample thickness. Importantly, changes in cell morphology and in situ calcium spiking were quantified in response to a soluble biochemical cue and varying matrix architectures (i.e., randomly oriented and aligned fibers). Importantly, raster plots generated from spiking data revealed calcium signatures specific to culture conditions. In the future, our approach can be used to elucidate correlations between calcium signatures and cell phenotype/activation, and facilitate the rational design of scaffolds for biomedical applications.

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