title: IP3, still on the move but now in the slow lane.
abstract: In this issue of Science Signaling, Dickinson et al show that the intracellular messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), which triggers the release of calcium (Ca2+) from the endoplasmic reticulum, is a slowly diffusing local signal, rather than a rapidly diffusing global one. These findings have implications for the understanding of the mechanisms of Ca2+wave propagation, especially long-range, cell-to-cell propagating Ca2+waves.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. luc.leybaert@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leybaert
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D002118:Calcium