Downstream from calcium signalling: mitochondria, vacuoles and pancreatic acinar cell damage.
Ca(2+) is one of the most ancient and ubiquitous second messengers. Highly polarized pancreatic acinar cells serve as an important cellular model for studies of Ca(2+) signalling and homeostasis. Downstream effects of Ca(2+) signalling have been and continue to be an important research avenue. The primary functions regulated by Ca(2+) in pancreatic acinar cells--exocytotic secretion and fluid secretion--have been defined and extensively characterized in the second part of the last century. The role of cytosolic Ca(2+) in cellular pathology and the related question of the interplay between Ca(2+) signalling and bioenergetics are important current research lines in our and other laboratories. Recent findings in these interwoven research areas are discussed in the current review.
Voronina
S
S
Physiological Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Sherwood
M
M
Barrow
S
S
Dolman
N
N
Conant
A
A
Tepikin
A
A
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology*; D010179:Pancreas / Q000166:cytology*; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000502:physiology*
D002118:Calcium