TITLE: “Mechanisms of robust entrainment of biological oscillators involved in gastric peristalsis.”
ABSTRACT: Oscillator entrainment is a widely observed phenomenon in natural systems. Using a computational modeling approach, we decipher the essential intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms of robust entrainment of biological oscillators involved in gastric peristalsis. Specifically, we show that the constitutive intercellular IP3-facilitated pacemaker pathway in these cells stabilizes cellular frequencies, extends longitudinal entrainment range, and enables rostro-caudal spread of a gastric slow-wave in a realistic multi-cellular coupled network. Our comprehensive model and the novel predictions offer directions for future experiments and theoretical work.
