Shooting blanks: Ca2+-free signaling.
Insect flight muscle is capable of very high oscillatory frequencies. In this issue of Structure, De Nicola and colleagues (De Nicola et al., 2007) describe the structure of the Ca2+ binding protein that regulates asynchronous contraction, casting light on the mechanism of stretch activation.
Sykes
Brian D
BD
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019209:Troponin C / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology
D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D019209:Troponin C; D002118:Calcium