Review abstract


Nature Immunology 10, 21 - 27 (2009)
Published online: 17 December 2008 | Corrected online: 16 January 2009 | doi:10.1038/ni.f.220



There is an Erratum (February 2009) associated with this Review.

Calcium signaling in immune cells

Monika Vig1 & Jean-Pierre Kinet1


Calcium acts as a second messenger in many cell types, including lymphocytes. Resting lymphocytes maintain a low concentration of Ca2+. However, engagement of antigen receptors induces calcium influx from the extracellular space by several routes. A chief mechanism of Ca2+ entry in lymphocytes is through store-operated calcium (SOC) channels. The identification of two important molecular components of SOC channels, CRACM1 (the pore-forming subunit) and STIM1 (the sensor of stored calcium), has allowed genetic and molecular manipulation of the SOC entry pathway. In this review, we highlight advances in the understanding of Ca2+ signaling in lymphocytes with special emphasis on SOC entry. We also discuss outstanding questions and probable future directions of the field.

Top
  1. Laboratory of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

Correspondence to: Monika Vig1 e-mail: mvig@bidmc.harvard.edu

* NOTE: In the version of this article initially published, the published online date is 17 January 2009 and the ovals indicating store-dependent channels in the bottom row of Figure 2 are blue. The published online date should be 17 December 2008 and the ovals should be black . The errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Skeletal muscle dressed in SOCs

Nature Cell Biology News and Views (01 Jun 2008)

Cell biology Cracking the calcium entry code

Nature News and Views (11 May 2006)

See all 8 matches for News And Views

Extra navigation

Subscribe to Nature Immunology

Subscribe

Open Innovation Challenges

naturejobs

ADVERTISEMENT