title: Calcium channels in primary cilia.
abstract: Primary cilia have become important organelles implicated in embryonic development, organogenesis, health, and diseases. Although many studies in cell biology have focused on changes in ciliary length or ciliogenesis, the most common readout for evaluating ciliary function is intracellular calcium.
  
  
  
  Recent tools have allowed us to examine intracellular calcium in more precise locations, that is, the cilioplasm and cytoplasm. Advances in calcium imaging have also allowed us to identify which cilia respond to particular stimuli. Furthermore, direct electrophysiological measurement of ionic currents within a cilium has provided a wealth of information for understanding the sensory roles of primary cilia.
  
  
  
  Calcium imaging and direct measurement of calcium currents demonstrate that primary cilia are sensory organelles that house several types of functional calcium channels. Although intracellular calcium now allows a functional readout for primary cilia, discussions on the relative contributions of the several channel types have just begun. Perhaps, all of these calcium channels are required and necessary to differentiate stimuli in different microenvironments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chapman University, Irvine, California Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Surya M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Nauli
authors.forename: Rajasekharreddy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kleene
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002923:Cilia / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D050396:TRPP Cation Channels / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D050396:TRPP Cation Channels; D002118:Calcium