1. Overview

In this project we want to model the neuro-muscular junction (see Figure 1). By modeling we mean properly placing the entities involved in the physiological activity. In essence, it is a geometric modeling exercise and for the time being we will focus on static modeling, i.e., we will consider a snapshot and place the molecules – Acetylcholine receptor (AchR) on the thickened cell membrane and Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) in the synaptic cleft which is the volume entrapped between the nerve cells and the cell membranes (see Figure 2 for an example result). For a spatially realistic geometric modeling of this biological system we rely on the following resources.

Figure 1

A sketch of neuro-muscular junction.	Mesh model of the cell membrane.

Figure 2

A sketch of neuro-muscular junction.