Biochemical, biophysical and genetic approaches to intracellular calcium signalling

摘要

The calcium ion has a major role in regulating a wide range of different aspects of cell function. This is a research area that has been extensively studied over the past 20 years or more. A large number of papers and many reviews have been published that have concentrated on the analysis of the quantitative, temporal and spatial aspects of calcium signals. This has included determination of the source of Ca~(2+) (extracellular or intracellular) and the type of calcium channels involved. The introduction of methods to allow changes in Ca~(2+) concentration to be followed had a significant impact on the field and in general the mechanisms involved in the regulation of intracellular Ca~(2+) concentration are well understood. Major issues in the field of Ca~(2+) signalling that remain to be fully understood are the mechanisms involved in the transduction of the Ca~(2+) signals into physiological changes and the factors that determine how changes in the concentration of the same ion can lead to radically different physiological outcomes often over very different time scales. There is also a clear need to move from understanding Ca~(2+) signalling at the level of single cells to an understanding of Ca~(2+) signalling pathways in the context of the whole organism.