Calcium articles from across Nature Portfolio

In many AMPylating FIC proteins a structurally conserved glutamate represses AMPylation. Here, the authors show that this glutamate supports deAMPylation in Enterococcus faecalis FIC (EfFIC), and that EfFIC switches from AMPylation to deAMPylation by binding Ca²⁺ at distinct sites.

There are only few MRI-compatible calcium reporters and they are limited to measuring extracellular calcium levels. Here the authors develop and validate a cell-permeable, manganese-based paramagnetic MRI contrast agent that enables monitoring intracellular calcium signals in vivo in the rat brain.

Ferroportin (Fpn) is essential for mammalian iron homeostasis as it exports iron from cells into blood circulation, but the molecular mechanisms of Fpn-mediated iron transport remain obscure. Here the authors use biophysical approaches to reveal that Ca²⁺ is a required cofactor for Fpn transport activity.

This protocol describes how to characterize the response properties of individual neurons in mice in vivo using genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs), followed by retrieval of the same neurons in brain slices for further analysis in vitro.