Studying complex system: calcium oscillations as attractor of cell differentiation

Abstract

Biological processes, such as the induction of undifferentiated cells to enable neurogenesis, provide complex mechanisms for study. For further insight, subsets of these processes that are governed by metabolic pathways or key molecules called attractors need to be elucidated. In this review, we have focused on the role of calcium as a driving force of neuronal differentiation. The activity of calcium refers to peaks and waves, whose amplitudes and frequencies in stem and progenitor cells involve the activation of a great variety of signaling pathways that comprise neurotransmitters and their receptors, intracellular signaling factors and transcription factors, which form a complex network. The study of different subsets, from receptor-mediated calcium flux to the activation of transcription factors, can then be combined to understand the process of neuronal differentiation.