Spatiotemporal dynamics of Ca2+ signaling and its physiological roles

• Published in: Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B Vol. 86; no. 3; pp. 244 - 256
• Main Author: IINO, Masamitsu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japan Academy 2010
• Subjects: Animals; Ca2; Calcium Signaling - physiology; Humans; imaging; Intracellular Space - metabolism; IP3; Mitochondria - metabolism; NFAT; Review; smooth muscle; synapse; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0386-2208; 1349-2896
• DOI: 10.2183/pjab.86.244

Changes in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration regulate numerous cell functions and display diverse spatiotemporal dynamics, which underlie the versatility of Ca2+ in cell signaling. In many cell types, an increase in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration starts locally, propagates within the cell (Ca2+ wave) and makes oscillatory changes (Ca2+ oscillation). Studies of the intracellular Ca2+ release mechanism from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) showed that the Ca2+ release mechanism has inherent regenerative properties, which is essential for the generation of Ca2+ waves and oscillations. Ca2+ may shuttle between the ER and mitochondria, and this appears to be important for pacemaking of Ca2+ oscillations. Importantly, Ca2+ oscillations are an efficient mechanism in regulating cell functions, having effects supra-proportional to the sum of duration of Ca2+ increase. Furthermore, Ca2+ signaling mechanism studies have led to the development of a method for specific inhibition of Ca2+ signaling, which has been used to identify hitherto unrecognized functions of Ca2+ signals. (Communicated by Masanori OTSUKA, M.J.A.)