Abstract:
We present the development of a tool which provides users with the ability to visualize and interact with multiscale models of the nephron – from the scale of models of membrane bound proteins, to that of an individual nephron. A 1-D finite element model of the nephron has been created and is used for both visualization and modeling of the tubule transport. Mathematical models of nephron segments (for example, Weinstein et al., Am. J. Physiol. 292:F1164-F1181, 2007 for the proximal tubule) are embedded in the finite element model. At the cellular level these segment models utilize models encoded in CellML (www.cellml.org) to describe cellular transport kinetics. A user interface has been developed which allows the visualization and interaction with the multiscale nephron models and simulation results. The zinc extension to Firefox (http://www.cmiss.org/cmgui/zinc/) is used to provide an interactive 3-D view of the model(s). This model viewer is embedded in a web page which dynamically presents content based on user input. For example, when viewing the whole nephron model the user might be presented with information on the various embedded segment models as they select them in the 3-D model view. Similarly, the user might choose to focus the model viewer on a cellular model in a particular segment in order to view the various membrane transport proteins. Selecting a specific protein might present the user with a full reference description of the mathematical model governing the behavior of that protein (Nickerson et al., Bioinformatics 24:1112-1114, 2008).