Fold–Hopf Bursting in a Model for Calcium Signal Transduction

Abstract

We study a recent model for calcium signal transduction. This model displays spiking, bursting and chaotic oscillations in accordance with experimental results. We calculate bifurcation diagrams and study the bursting behaviour in detail. This behaviour is classified according to the dynamics of separated slow and fast subsystems. It is shown to be of the Fold–Hopf type, a type which was previously only described in the context of neuronal systems, but not in the context of signal transduction in the cell.