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- Title
Calcium and Signal Transduction.
- Authors
Fedrizzi, Laura; Lim, Dmitry; Carafoli, Ernesto
- Abstract
Cell signaling is an essential process in which a variety of external signals, defined as first messengers, are translated inside the cells into specific responses, which are mediated by a less numerous group of second messengers. The exchange of signals became a necessity when the transition from monocellular to pluricellular life brought with it the division of labor among the cells of the organisms: unicellular organisms do not depend on the mutual exchange of signals, as they essentially only compete with each other for nutrients. Calcium (Ca2+) was selected during evolution as second messenger, because its chemistry made it a much more flexible ligand than the other abundant cations in the primordial environment (Na+, K+, Mg2+). Ca2+ can accept binding sites of irregular geometries and is thus ideally suited to be a carrier of biological information. The Ca2+ signal has properties that set it apart from those of all other biological messengers: they will be reviewed in this contribution. Among them, the ambivalent character of the Ca2+ signal is the most important: while essential to the viability of the cells, it can also easily become a conveyor of doom.
- Subjects
CALCIUM; CELLS; CATIONS; CELL division; CELL proliferation; BIOCHEMISTRY
- Publication
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Education, 2008, Vol 36, Issue 3, p175
- ISSN
1470-8175
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/bmb.20187