Traveling waves in a model of calcium ions influx via mechanically stimulated membrane channels

Abstract

We consider the problem of existence and properties of pulse solutions to a system of equations modeling fast calcium waves in long cells. These waves have the speed up to 1000  m/s. They propagate via the inflow of calcium ions from the extracellular space through the mechanically stimulated membrane channels. The channels open due to mechano‐chemical interaction, in which stretching of the cell's membrane at a point opens the calcium channels at neighboring points due to the forces exerted by the actomyosin network. The existence of homoclinic solutions is based on the celebrated exchange lemma, which cannot be applied straightforwardly due to some specificities of the model equations.