Statistical properties and information content of calcium oscillations

Calcium is the most important second messenger in living cells serving as a critical link between a large variety of extracellular stimuli and the intracellular target. Often, the Ca(2+) signal is carried by [Ca(2+)] oscillations. Our recent studies have demonstrated that in contrast to traditional ideas Ca(2+) oscillations do not occur by simple synchronization of channel clusters opening and closing in an oscillatory fashion but originate from microscopic fluctuation caused by the stochastic binding of the ligands Ca(2+) and IP(3) to the receptor's binding sites. They are orchestrated spatially on the cell level by wave nucleation. In this paper we analyze the stochastic data and show how internal properties can be determined from global observations. Further, we analyze the information content of spontaneous and stimulated oscillations.