title: STIMulating store-operated Ca(2+) entry.
abstract: Calcium influx through plasma membrane store-operated Ca(2+) (SOC) channels is triggered when the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) store is depleted - a homeostatic Ca(2+) signalling mechanism that remained enigmatic for more than two decades. RNA-interference (RNAi) screening and molecular and cellular physiological analysis recently identified STIM1 as the mechanistic 'missing link' between the ER and the plasma membrane. STIM proteins sense the depletion of Ca(2+) from the ER, oligomerize, translocate to junctions adjacent to the plasma membrane, organize Orai or TRPC (transient receptor potential cation) channels into clusters and open these channels to bring about SOC entry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics and Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4561, USA. mcahalan@uci.edu
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cahalan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071740:ORAI1 Protein; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000378:metabolism; D000071737:Stromal Interaction Molecule 1; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D000071740:ORAI1 Protein; C510746:ORAI1 protein, human; D021122:Protein Subunits; C103530:STIM1 protein, human; D000071737:Stromal Interaction Molecule 1; D050052:TRPC Cation Channels; D002118:Calcium