Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Calcium signalling is activated by calcium ions that are released from intracellular stores, or enter the cell via plasma membrane ion channels. Calcium is an important second messenger that regulates many cellular activities, including fertilisation, secretion, neurotransmission and cell migration.
Screening in Escherichia coli and biochemical experiments show that in Arabidopsis thaliana, OSCA2.1 and OSCA2.2 function as plant sensors of hypo-osmolarity, utilize Ca2+ oscillations as second messengers and have crucial roles in pollen germination.
Enteroendocrine cells in the gut sense food to regulate feeding behavior. Here, the authors show in Drosophila L-glutamate reduces the frequency of calcium oscillations in enteroendocrine cells and decreases the release of NPF, thereby reducing the activation of a pair of anorexic enteric neurons.
A multidisciplinary approach suggests the importance of cellular geometry in modulating calcium signals in breast cancer cells via the PIEZO1 force sensing channel which is also associated with breast cancer cell plasticity.
Contact between organelles such as the mitochondria (Mito) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is crucial to coordinate vital cellular homeostatic processes. Here we discuss recent work showing that Mito-ER proximity is regulated by heterotypic complexes between the F-actin polymerizing protein Diaphanous-1) and the mitochondrial dynamics protein Mitofusin 2, which confers increased susceptibility to ischemia/reperfusion injury.
A new study collaboratively delivered by Valentina Greco’s and Smita Krishnaswamy’s labs provides new insight into patterns of calcium signalling in epithelial tissues using intravital imaging of the basal layer of the mouse epidermis.
The increased tissue stiffness that results from the presence of Aβ aggregates activates microglial mechanosensitive PIEZO1 channels and drives Aβ engulfment, reducing plaque burden, synapse loss and spatial memory impairment in mice.
Zheng et al. show that calcium transients at the endoplasmic reticulum surface trigger condensation of FIP200 and the formation of ULK1 assemblies for autophagosome biogenesis.
Steinhorst et al. show how calcium signal induced by salt stress is ‘decoded’ by plant roots to provide systemic response and to increase salt tolerance.