Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter involved in memory, motor activity and reward. Dysfunction of dopaminergic neurons leads to neurological disorders such as Parkinson disease, which is a progressive neurological disorder resulting from degeneration of dopamine-producing cells in the substantia negra causing tremors, slow movements and rigidity. Addiction is also a dopamine-related disorder.

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Understanding gene regulation in model species, such as S. cerevesiae (yeast), is an important step in understanding gene regulation in higher order eukaryotes. S. cerevesiae has not only been sequenced, but a vast amount of data and computational resources are available in the public domain. Unlike other eukaryotes, the non-coding portion of DNA in yeast is relatively small, and there is an absence of much post-transcriptional control (e.g. introns, RNAi). These two factors make the study of regulatory regions in yeast a more feasible problem.

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In ventricular myocytes, ryanodine receptors (RyR2s) are the intracellular ion channels responsible for release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). During each cardiac cycle, many RyR2s are triggered by Ca2+ influx through L-type Ca2+ channels, resulting in a large increase in intracellular [Ca2+], which then leads to myocyte contraction. In resting cells, RyR2s can open spontaneously, resulting in "leak" of Ca2+ from the SR into the myoplasm. Because inappropriate leak of Ca2+ is thought to be linked to arrhythmias in disease states, it is important to obtain a quantitative understanding of SR Ca2+ leak.

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The electrical behavior of the cardiac myocyte depends on the coordinated action of numerous voltage-dependent ion channels in the cell membrane. With each heartbeat, the orderly opening and closing of these ion channels results in membrane depolarization, which initiates an action potential, and subsequent membrane repolarization, which allows for myocyte relaxation. Computational models serve as an important tool to link ion channel behavior to action potential morphology. With most existing models, however, our understanding of how changes in ion channel expression lead to changes in cell behavior is limited.

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Synthetic biology uses DNA, cells and other molecular materials as basic components (parts) to build functional modules. From these modules novel biological systems are constructed [3, 5,9]. Such biological systems have either introduced new functionality by using natural parts in an unnatural configuration or environment, or using modified parts to mimic natural functions [3,5,9]. Some examples include synthetic biofilm, logic gates and switches, sensors and artificial cell-cell communication devices [4,7,9,10,13].

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