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Sci. STKE, 23 November 2004
Vol. 2004, Issue 260, p. tw421
[DOI: 10.1126/stke.2602004tw421]

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CHANNELS Regulating Oscillatory Calcium Signals

Variation in the intensity and frequency of intracellular calcium signals impacts numerous calcium-dependent cellular responses, but the underlying mechanisms that regulate oscillatory calcium signaling have not been fully resolved. Launay et al. report that generation and maintenance of the calcium oscillations that control the production of the cytokine interleukin-2 in stimulated T cells involve a calcium-activated nonselective cation channel called TRPM4. In response to a rise in intracellular calcium, TRPM4 is activated and contributes to depolarization of the membrane potential, which suppresses further calcium influx. Subsequent repolarization closes TRPM4 channels and reestablishes conditions for further calcium influx. Thus, TRPM4 contributes to shaping calcium oscillations in lymphocytes through oscillatory changes in membrane potential.

P. Launay, H. Cheng, S. Srivatsan, R. Penner, A. Fleig, J.-P. Kinet, TRPM4 regulates calcium oscillations after T cell activation. Science 306, 1374-1377 (2004). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: Regulating Oscillatory Calcium Signals. Sci. STKE 2004, tw421 (2004).

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