Calcium signalling in cardiac myocytes

Abstract

Calcium signalling in cardiac myocytes consists of a basic scaffold of four molecular entities: the voltage-activated calcium channel and sodium-calcium exchanger (NCX) in the plasma membrane and the ryanodine receptor (Ry R) and the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) in the membrane of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The interplay among these four proteins is presented in Fig. 9.1. These four players can be modulated by their abundance (expression), regulation through other proteins, phosphorylation, geometrical arrangement or by other means. Furthermore, the different calcium buffers play crucial roles, and other calcium transport proteins, such as inositol triphosphate (IP₃)-receptors, transient receptor potential (TRP)-channels and N-methyl-D-aspartate-(NMDA) receptors, just to name a few, have a further modulatory function.