Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy
Uterine contractions during normal pregnancy and preterm birth are an important physiological activity. Although the cause of preterm labor is usually unknown, preterm birth creates very serious health concerns in many cases. Therefore, understanding normal birth and predicting preterm birth can hel...
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MDPI AG
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/22/4898 |
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| author | Yiqi Lin Mengxue Zhang Patricio S. La Rosa James D. Wilson Arye Nehorai |
| author_facet | Yiqi Lin Mengxue Zhang Patricio S. La Rosa James D. Wilson Arye Nehorai |
| author_sort | Yiqi Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Uterine contractions during normal pregnancy and preterm birth are an important physiological activity. Although the cause of preterm labor is usually unknown, preterm birth creates very serious health concerns in many cases. Therefore, understanding normal birth and predicting preterm birth can help both newborn babies and their families. In our previous work, we developed a multiscale dynamic electrophysiology model of uterine contractions. In this paper, we mainly focus on the cellular level and use electromyography (EMG) and cell force generation methods to construct a new ionic channel model and a corresponding mechanical force model. Specifically, the ionic channel model takes into consideration the knowledge of individual ionic channels, which include the electrochemical and bioelectrical characteristics of individual myocytes. We develop a new sodium channel and a new potassium channel based on the experimental data from the human myometrium and the average correlations are 0.9946 and 0.9945, respectively. The model is able to generate the single spike, plateau type and bursting type of action potentials. Moreover, we incorporate the effect of oxytocin on changing the properties of the L-type and T-type calcium channels and further influencing the output action potentials. In addition, we develop a mechanical force model based on the new ionic channel model that describes the detailed ionic dynamics. Our model produces cellular mechanical force that propagates to the tissue level. We illustrate the relationship between the cellular mechanical force and the intracellular ionic dynamics and discuss the relationship between the application of oxytocin and the output mechanical force. We also propose a simplified version of the model to enable large scale simulations using sensitivity analysis method. Our results show that the model is able to reproduce the bioelectrical and electromechanical characteristics of uterine contractions during pregnancy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:46:15Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:46:15Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
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| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-7c8012184d6146708a7d1119a2cca1c62022-12-22T04:21:05ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202019-11-011922489810.3390/s19224898s19224898Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during PregnancyYiqi Lin0Mengxue Zhang1Patricio S. La Rosa2James D. Wilson3Arye Nehorai4The Preston M. Green Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USADecision Science, Bayer Company, Saint Louis, MO 63146, USADecision Science, Bayer Company, Saint Louis, MO 63146, USAFormerly at Graduate Institute of Technology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR 72204, USAThe Preston M. Green Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO 63130, USAUterine contractions during normal pregnancy and preterm birth are an important physiological activity. Although the cause of preterm labor is usually unknown, preterm birth creates very serious health concerns in many cases. Therefore, understanding normal birth and predicting preterm birth can help both newborn babies and their families. In our previous work, we developed a multiscale dynamic electrophysiology model of uterine contractions. In this paper, we mainly focus on the cellular level and use electromyography (EMG) and cell force generation methods to construct a new ionic channel model and a corresponding mechanical force model. Specifically, the ionic channel model takes into consideration the knowledge of individual ionic channels, which include the electrochemical and bioelectrical characteristics of individual myocytes. We develop a new sodium channel and a new potassium channel based on the experimental data from the human myometrium and the average correlations are 0.9946 and 0.9945, respectively. The model is able to generate the single spike, plateau type and bursting type of action potentials. Moreover, we incorporate the effect of oxytocin on changing the properties of the L-type and T-type calcium channels and further influencing the output action potentials. In addition, we develop a mechanical force model based on the new ionic channel model that describes the detailed ionic dynamics. Our model produces cellular mechanical force that propagates to the tissue level. We illustrate the relationship between the cellular mechanical force and the intracellular ionic dynamics and discuss the relationship between the application of oxytocin and the output mechanical force. We also propose a simplified version of the model to enable large scale simulations using sensitivity analysis method. Our results show that the model is able to reproduce the bioelectrical and electromechanical characteristics of uterine contractions during pregnancy.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/22/4898uterine contractionsionic channelsoxytocinuterine cell force |
| spellingShingle | Yiqi Lin Mengxue Zhang Patricio S. La Rosa James D. Wilson Arye Nehorai Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy Sensors uterine contractions ionic channels oxytocin uterine cell force |
| title | Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy |
| title_full | Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy |
| title_fullStr | Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy |
| title_short | Electro-Mechanical Ionic Channel Modeling for Uterine Contractions and Oxytocin Effect during Pregnancy |
| title_sort | electro mechanical ionic channel modeling for uterine contractions and oxytocin effect during pregnancy |
| topic | uterine contractions ionic channels oxytocin uterine cell force |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/22/4898 |
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