Calcium3D: A visual software package for the simulation of calcium buffered diffusion in neuroendocrine cells

We present Calcium3D, a user-friendly software package for simulating calcium triggered processes in neuroendocrine cells. We use Monte Carlo methods for the simulation of the basic processes involved: entry of calcium into the cytoplasm, the diffusion of ions and mobile intracellular calcium buffers inside the intracellular medium, and the kinetics of the reaction of calcium with these buffers. The outputs of the simulation are calcium and buffer concentrations as a function of time and for different depths from the cellular membrane.