Ca2+ handling and sensitivity in airway smooth muscle: emerging concepts for mechanistic understanding and therapeutic targeting.
Free calcium ions within the cytosol serve as a key secondary messenger system for a diverse range of cellular processes. Dysregulation of cytosolic Ca(2+) handling in airway smooth muscle (ASM) has been implicated in asthma, and it has been hypothesised that this leads, at least in part, to associated changes in both the architecture and function of the lung. Significant research is therefore directed towards furthering our understanding of the mechanisms which control ASM cytosolic calcium, in addition to those regulating the sensitivity of its downstream effector targets to calcium. Key aspects of the recent developments in this field were discussed at the 8th Young Investigators' Symposium on Smooth Muscle (2013, Groningen, The Netherlands), and are outlined in this review.
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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Koopmans
Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
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Anaparti
Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, TX, USA.
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Castro-Piedras
Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK.
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Yarova
Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, UK.
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Irechukwu
School of Science & Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK.
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Nelson
Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, TX, USA.
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Perez-Zoghbi
Lung Inflammation & Infection Lab, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
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Tan
Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, UK.
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Ward
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands; Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, King's College London, UK. Electronic address: davidblairwright@gmail.com.
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Wright
D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects; D015290:Second Messenger Systems / Q000502:physiology
D002118:Calcium
Airway smooth muscle; Asthma; Calcium; Contraction; Sensitisation; WNT