title: Acidocalcisomes of eukaryotes.
abstract: Acidocalcisomes are organelles rich in polyphosphate and cations and acidified by proton pumps. Although they have also been described in prokaryotes they have been better characterized in unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes. Eukaryotic acidocalcisomes belong to the group of lysosome-related organelles. They have a variety of functions, from the storage of cations and phosphorus to calcium signaling, autophagy, osmoregulation, blood coagulation, and inflammation. Acidocalcisomes of several unicellular eukaryotes possess a variety of transporters, channels and pumps implying a large energetic requirement for their maintenance and suggesting other important functions waiting to be discovered.
authors.affiliation: Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. Electronic address: rdocampo@cb.uga.edu.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Docampo
authors.affiliation: Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Guozhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015388:Organelles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010063:Ovum / Q000378:metabolism; D011122:Polyphosphates / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D011122:Polyphosphates; D002118:Calcium