Synchronization of a cluster of β-cells based on a small-world network and its electronic experimental verification

When the bursting electrical activity (BEA) of the β -cells inside Langerhans’ islet behave synchronously, the insulin secretes into the bloodstream to regulate the body’s glucose levels. Recent advances in pancreas imaging techniques showed that the communication path among β -cells exhibits a smal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. ST, Special topics Special topics, 2022, Vol.231 (5), p.1035-1047
Main Authors: Zambrano-Serrano, Ernesto, Munoz-Pacheco, Jesus M., Anzo-Hernández, Andrés, Félix-Beltrán, Olga G., Guevara-Flores, Diana K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic
Circuits
Classical and Continuum Physics
Clusters
Complex Bio Rhythms
Condensed Matter Physics
Electronic circuits
Imaging techniques
Insulin
Materials Science
Mathematical models
Measurement Science and Instrumentation
Molecular
Nodes
Optical and Plasma Physics
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Regular Article
Shortest-path problems
Synchronism
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Summary:When the bursting electrical activity (BEA) of the β -cells inside Langerhans’ islet behave synchronously, the insulin secretes into the bloodstream to regulate the body’s glucose levels. Recent advances in pancreas imaging techniques showed that the communication path among β -cells exhibits a small-world-like organization. Hence, we propose a mathematical model of a cluster composed of β -cells with different BEAs represented by a complex network of nearly identical nodes. Each node describes the dynamics of an isolated β -cell by the Pernarowski model. We analyze the effect of shortest path communication on the synchronization of β -cells with different types of BEA via numerical simulations and electronic circuit experiments. Our results showed that even when the BEA evolves to distinct dynamics among the nodes, the synchronization is achieved. Of particular interest is when a percentage of β -cells (nodes) are silent, i.e., no BEA is generated, which is a typical condition associated with diabetes. In this scenario, we observed that the proposed model predicts that the interaction between silent and active β -cells induces reactivation of the inactive β -cells’ electrical activity.
ISSN:1951-6355
1951-6401
DOI:10.1140/epjs/s11734-021-00307-6