title: Regulatory and spatial aspects of inositol trisphosphate-mediated calcium signals.
abstract: Hormones that act to release Ca2+ from intracellular stores initiate a signaling cascade that culminates in the production of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3). The Ca2+ response mediated by InsP3 is not a sustained increase in the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, but rather a series of periodic spikes that manifest as waves in larger cells. In vitro studies have determined that the key positive feedback parameter driving spikes and waves is a highly localized direct Ca(2+)-activation of InsP3-gated Ca2+ channels. Advances in fluorescent Ca2+ imaging have facilitated the resolution of individual positive feedback units. These studies have revealed that there are several modes of channel coupling underlying global Ca2+ signals; single channel openings or Ca2+ "blips," synchronized clusters of channels or Ca2+ "puffs," and cell wide calcium waves. It appears that the channel clusters that produce Ca2+ puffs are synchronized by the highly localized positive feedback that was predicted by the in vitro studies of channel regulation. Localization of InsP3-induced Ca2+ signals has been shown to be important for activation of several cellular processes including uni-directional salt flow and mitochondrial activation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. jhorne@gg.caltech.edu
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Horne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D002460:Cell Line; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D002118:Calcium