title: Endoplasmic reticulum, Bcl-2 and Ca2+ handling in apoptosis.
abstract: In the complex signalling interplay that allows extracellular signals to be decoded into activation of apoptotic cell death, Ca(2+) plays a significant role. This is supported not only by evidence linking alterations in Ca(2+) homeostasis to the triggering of apoptotic (and in some cases necrotic) cell death, but also by recent data indicating that a key anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2, has a direct effect on ER Ca(2+) handling. We will briefly summarise the first aspect, and describe in more detail these new data, demonstrating that (i) Bcl-2 reduces the state of filling of the ER Ca(2+) store and (ii) this Ca(2+) signalling alteration renders the cells less sensitive to apoptotic stimuli. Overall, these results suggest that calcium homeostasis may represent a pharmacological target in the fundamental pathological process of apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of General Pathology, Telethon Center for Cell Imaging, Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Inflammation, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, I-44100, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pinton
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Szabadkai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chami
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Campanella
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pozzan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rizzuto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D002118:Calcium