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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 586/13/3043    most recent jphysiol.2008.153460v1 Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Parekh, A. B. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Parekh, A. B. Related Collections Review articles

¹ Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK

In eukaryotic cells, a rise in cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ can activate a plethora of responses that operate on time scales ranging from milliseconds to days. Inherent to the use of a promiscuous signal like Ca²⁺ is the problem of specificity: how can Ca²⁺ activate some responses but not others? We now know that the spatial profile of the Ca²⁺ signal is important Ca²⁺ does not simply rise uniformly throughout the cytoplasm upon stimulation but can reach very high levels locally, creating spatial gradients. The most fundamental local Ca²⁺ signal is the Ca²⁺ microdomain that develops rapidly near open plasmalemmal Ca²⁺ channels like voltage-gated L-type (Cav1.2) and store-operated CRAC channels. Recent work has revealed that Ca²⁺ microdomains arising from these channels are remarkably versatile in triggering a range of responses that differ enormously in both temporal and spatial profile. Here, I delineate basic features of Ca²⁺ microdomains and then describe how these highly local signals are used by Ca²⁺-permeable channels to drive cellular responses.

(Received 3 March 2008; accepted after revision 7 May 2008; first published online 8 May 2008)
Corresponding author A. B. Parekh: Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK. Email: anant.parekh{at}dpag.ox.ac.uk

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				A. B. Parekh Store-operated channels: mechanisms and function J. Physiol., July 1, 2008; 586(13): 3033 - 3033. [Full Text] [PDF]