Definition
MCell (Monte Carlo Cell) is a program for simulating spatially resolved cell models using particle-based Monte Carlo algorithms.
Detailed Description
Biological processes at the cell level take place in small and often complex geometries and frequently involve only a small number of molecular players (tens to thousands). A prime example of a process in which this “microphysiology” plays a central role is neurotransmission at chemical synapses in the brain and in the peripheral nervous system (Stiles et al. 2001; Stiles and Bartol 2001). At such small subcellular scales, the familiar macroscopic concept of concentration breaks down and stochastic behavior dominates. MCell uses optimized Monte Carlo algorithms to track discrete molecules in space and time as they diffuse and interact with other effector molecules such as membrane channels, receptors, transporters, or enzymes (Bartol et al. 1991; Stiles and Bartol 2001; Kerr et al. 2008).
The first version of MCell, released in...
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References
Bartol TM, Land BR, Salpeter EE, Salpeter MM (1991) Monte Carlo simulation of miniature endplate current generation in the vertebrate neuromuscular junction. Biophys J 59:1290–1307
Beenhakker MP, Huguenard JR (2010) Astrocytes as gatekeepers of GABAB receptor function. J Neurosci 30:15262–15276
Coggan JS, Bartol TM, Esquenazi E, Stiles JR, Lamont S, Martone ME, Berg DK, Ellisman MH, Sejnowski TJ (2005) Evidence for ectopic neurotransmission at a neuronal synapse. Science 309:446–451
Dittrich M, Pattillo JM, King JD, Cho S, Stiles JR, Meriney SD (2013) An excess-calcium-binding-site model predicts neurotransmitter release at the neuromuscular junction. Biophys J 104:2751–2763
Kerr RA, Levine H, Sejnowski TJ, Rappel W (2006) Division accuracy in a stochastic model of Min oscillations in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:347–352
Kerr R, Bartol TM, Kaminsky B, Dittrich M, Chang JCJ, Baden S, Sejnowski TJ, Stiles JR (2008) Fast Monte Carlo simulation methods for biological reaction-diffusion systems in solution and on surfaces. SIAM J Sci Comput 30:3126–3149
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Stiles JR, Van Helden D, Bartol TM, Salpeter EE, Salpeter MM (1996) Miniature endplate current rise times less than 100 microseconds from improved dual recordings can be modeled with passive acetylcholine diffusion from a synaptic vesicle. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:5747–5752
Stiles JR, Bartol TM, Salpeter MM, Salpeter EE, Sejnowski TJ (2001) Synaptic variability: new insights from reconstructions and Monte Carlo simulation with MCell. In: Cowan M, Sudhof TC, Stevens CF (eds) Synapses. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore/London, pp 681–731
Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge the funding from NIH/NIGMS grant P41GM103712. In addition we thank Jacob Czech for his help with the figure preparation; the members of the MCell development team, including Dipak Barua, Jacob Czech, Leonard Harris, Bob Kuczewski, and Jose Juan Tapia, for the helpful discussions; and Terry Sejnowski for the support and inspiration. We dedicate this entry to the memory of Joel R. Stiles.
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Bartol, T.M., Dittrich, M., Faeder, J.R. (2014). MCell. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_256-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_256-1
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Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6
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