title: Mechanisms and function of intercellular calcium signaling.
abstract: Intercellular Ca2+ waves initiated by mechanical or chemical stimuli propagate between cells via gap junctions. The ability of a wide diversity of cells to display intercellular Ca2+ waves suggests that these Ca2+ waves may represent a general mechanism by which cells communicate. Although Ca2+ may permeate gap junctions, the intercellular movement of Ca2+ is not essential for the propagation of Ca2+ waves. The messenger that moves from one cell to the next through gap junctions appears to be IP3 and a regenerative mechanism for IP3 may be required to effect multicellular communication. Extracellularly mediated Ca2+ signaling also exists and this could be employed to supplement or replace gap junctional communication. The function of intercellular Ca2+ waves may be the coordination of cooperative cellular responses to local stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boitano
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Dirksen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000502:physiology; D015290:Second Messenger Systems; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D002118:Calcium