title: Calcium in physiological and pathological cell function.
abstract: Calcium ions play a major role in the regulation of cell functions. Minor alterations of the cellular calcium ion homeostasis lead to major functional aberrations. Alterations of the calcium homeostasis occur under conditions of hypoxia, the major cause being an extracellular increase of potassium ions which gate voltage-dependent calcium entry. A hypothesis is forewarded which tries to find a link between parenchymatous and vascular reactions to hypoxia and which offers an explanation for the spread of hypoxic damage to neighboring normoxic cells.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism; D011188:Potassium / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D011188:Potassium; D002118:Calcium