We study the transient dynamics of biological oscillators subjected to brief heat pulses. A prospective well-defined experimental system for thermal control of oscillators is the peripheral electroreceptors in paddlefish. Epithelial cells in these receptors show spontaneous voltage oscillations which are known to be temperature sensitive. We use a computational model to predict the effect of brief thermal pulses in this system. In our model thermal stimulation is realized through the light excitation of gold nanoparticles delivered in close proximity to epithelial cells and generating heat due to plasmon resonance. We use an ensemble of modified Morris-Lecar systems to model oscillatory epithelial cells. First, we validate that the model quantitatively reproduces the dynamics of epithelial oscillations in paddlefish electroreceptors, including responses to static and slow temperature changes. Second, we use the model to predict transient responses to short heat pulses generated by the light actuated gold nanoparticles. The model predicts that the epithelial oscillators can be partially synchronized by brief 5–15 ms light stimuli resulting in a large-amplitude oscillations of the mean field potential.

中文翻译：

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生物细胞振荡器的光热控制建模。


我们研究生物振荡器在短暂热脉冲作用下的瞬态动力学。用于振荡器热控制的一个前瞻性明确的实验系统是白鲟的外周电感受器。这些受体中的上皮细胞表现出自发的电压振荡，已知这种振荡对温度敏感。我们使用计算模型来预测该系统中短暂热脉冲的影响。在我们的模型中，热刺激是通过金纳米粒子的光激发来实现的，金纳米粒子被输送到紧邻上皮细胞的位置，并由于等离振子共振而产生热量。我们使用一组改进的 Morris-Lecar 系统来模拟振荡上皮细胞。首先，我们验证该模型定量再现了白鲟电感受器上皮振荡的动态，包括对静态和缓慢温度变化的响应。其次，我们使用该模型来预测对光驱动金纳米颗粒产生的短热脉冲的瞬态响应。该模型预测，上皮振荡器可以通过短暂的 5-15 ms 光刺激部分同步，从而导致平均场电位的大幅度振荡。