Calcium signalling--an overview.
Calcium (Ca2+) is an almost universal intracellular messenger, controlling a diverse range of cellular processes, such as gene transcription, muscle contraction and cell proliferation. The ability of a simple ion such as Ca2+ to play a pivotal role in cell biology results from the facility that cells have to shape Ca2+ signals in the dimensions of space, time and amplitude. To generate the variety of observed Ca2+ signals, different cell types employ components selected from a Ca2+ signalling 'toolkit', which comprizes an array of signalling, homeostatic and sensory mechanisms. By mixing and matching components from the toolkit, cells can obtain Ca2+ signals that suit their physiology.
Bootman
M D
MD
Laboratory of Molecular Signalling, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge, CB2 4AT, UK. martin.bootman@bsrc.ac.uk
Collins
T J
TJ
Peppiatt
C M
CM
Prothero
L S
LS
MacKenzie
L
L
De Smet
P
P
Travers
M
M
Tovey
S C
SC
Seo
J T
JT
Berridge
M J
MJ
Ciccolini
F
F
Lipp
P
P
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans
D015220:Calcium Channels; D002118:Calcium