title: Calcium signalling--an overview.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Signalling, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge, CB2 4AT, UK. martin.bootman@bsrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Bootman
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Peppiatt
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Prothero
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: MacKenzie
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Smet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Travers
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Tovey
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Berridge
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ciccolini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lipp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D002118:Calcium