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Calcium is a ubiquitous second messenger with wide-ranging physiological roles. [2] These include muscle contraction , neuronal transmission (as in an excitatory synapse ), cellular motility (including the movement of flagella and cilia ), fertilization , cell growth (proliferation), neurogenesis , learning and memory as with synaptic ...
Calcium plays a crucial role in regulating the events of cellular division. Calcium acts both to modulate intracellular signaling as a secondary messenger and to facilitate structural changes as cells progress through division. Exquisite control of intracellular calcium dynamics are required, as calcium appears to play a role at multiple cell ...
The US Institute of Medicine (IOM) established Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for calcium in 1997 and updated those values in 2011. [6] See table. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) uses the term Population Reference Intake (PRIs) instead of RDAs and sets slightly different numbers: ages 4–10 800 mg, ages 11–17 1150 mg, ages 18–24 1000 mg, and >25 years 950 mg. [10]
Calcium ions are one type of second messengers and are responsible for many important physiological functions including muscle contraction, fertilization, and neurotransmitter release. The ions are normally bound or stored in intracellular components (such as the endoplasmic reticulum(ER) ) and can be released during signal transduction.
Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. [1] It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca 2+ , and the binding of Ca 2+ is required for the activation of calmodulin.
As electrolytes, calcium ions (Ca 2+) play a vital role in the physiological and biochemical processes of organisms and cells: in signal transduction pathways where they act as a second messenger; in neurotransmitter release from neurons; in contraction of all muscle cell types; as cofactors in many enzymes; and in fertilization. [8]
Calcium-binding proteins can be either intracellular and extracellular. Those that are intracellular can contain or lack a structural EF-hand domain. Extracellular calcium-binding proteins are classified into six groups. [2] Since Ca (2+) is an important second messenger, it can act as an activator or inhibitor in gene transcription.
It is not clear exactly how this happens. There are three different ideas on how this is done. 1) Simple diffusion of Calcium accounts for the slow kinetics of these currents, 2) The slow kinetics is due to other channels with slow activations, or 3) The Calcium simply activates a second messenger system to activate the SK channels.