Toward a consensus on the operation of receptor-induced calcium entry signals.
Receptor-induced Ca2+ signals involve both Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and extracellular Ca2+ entry across the plasma membrane. The channels mediating Ca2+ entry and the mechanisms controlling their function remain largely a mystery. Here we critically assess current views on the Ca2+ entry process and consider certain modifications to the widely held hypothesis that Ca2+ store emptying is the fundamental trigger for receptor-induced Ca2+ entry channels. Under physiological conditions, receptor-induced store depletion may be quite limited. A number of distinct channel activities appear to mediate receptor-induced Ca2+ entry, and their activation is observed to occur through quite diverse coupling processes.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. dgill@umaryland.edu
Donald L
DL
Gill
Randen L
RL
Patterson
D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000502:physiology
D015220:Calcium Channels; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear