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Nature Cell Biology 8, 655–656 (1 July 2006) | doi:10.1038/ncb0706-655

A CRAC current tango

Anant B Parekh

Many hormones, neurotransmitters, paracrine signals and physical stimuli elicit cellular responses through changes in the levels of the ubiquitous second messenger Ca2+. A rise in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration is used as a signal in virtually all cells, where it activates a multitude of key processes including neurotransmitter release, muscle contraction, gene transcription, cell growth and proliferation.