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Calcium and apoptosis: facts and hypotheses

Oncogene volume 22, pages 8619–8627 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Although longstanding experimental evidence has associated alterations of calcium homeostasis to cell death, only in the past few years the role of calcium in the signaling of apoptosis has been extensively investigated. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge, focusing on (i) the effect of the proteins of the Bcl-2 family on ER Ca2+ levels, (ii) the action of the proteolytic enzymes of apoptosis on the Ca2+ signaling machinery, (iii) the ensuing alterations on the signaling patterns of extracellular stimuli, and (iv) the intracellular targets of ‘apoptotic’ Ca2+ signals, with special emphasis on the mitochondria and cytosolic Ca2+-dependent enzymes.

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Abbreviations

AIF:

apoptosis-inducing factor

[Ca2+]c:

cytosolic calcium concentration

[Ca2+]m:

mitochondrial calcium concentration

[Ca2+]ER:

calcium concentration in the endoplasmic reticulum

[Ca2+]Golgi:

calcium concentration in the Golgi apparatus

DAG:

diacylglycerol

drp:

dynamin-like protein

ER:

endoplasmic reticulum

IMM:

inner mitochondrial membrane

IP3:

inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate

IP3R:

inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate receptor

OMM:

outer mitochondrial membrane

PTP:

permeability transition pore

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

SERCA:

sarco–endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ adenosine triphosphatase

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Acknowledgements

The original work by the authors has been supported by grants from Italian Telethon, Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC), the Italian Ministry of University, the National Research Council, the Human Frontier Science Program, the Italian Space Agency and the European Union.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine and Center for the Study of Inflammation, University of Ferrara, Italy

    Rosario Rizzuto, Paolo Pinton, Davide Ferrari, Mounia Chami, György Szabadkai & Francesco Di Virgilio

  2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy

    Paulo J Magalhães & Tullio Pozzan

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Rizzuto, R., Pinton, P., Ferrari, D. et al. Calcium and apoptosis: facts and hypotheses. Oncogene 22, 8619–8627 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1207105

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