title: Calmodulin: a prototypical calcium sensor.
abstract: Calmodulin is the best studied and prototypical example of the E-F-hand family of Ca2+-sensing proteins. Changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentration regulate calmodulin in three distinct ways. First, at the cellular level, by directing its subcellular distribution. Second, at the molecular level, by promoting different modes of association with many target proteins. Third, by directing a variety of conformational states in calmodulin that result in target-specific activation. The calmodulin-dependent regulation of protein kinases illustrates the potential mechanisms by which Ca2+-sensing proteins can recognize and generate affinity and specificity for effectors in a Ca2+-dependent manner.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. chin0001@mc.duke.edu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Means
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D002147:Calmodulin; D002118:Calcium