Abstract
Measurements of free cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) or free Ca2+ concentration in cellular organelles have become more routine. The primary reason for this is the availability of membrane permeant forms of Ca2+ indicators that can easily enter cells. In this chapter, the properties required of an ideal Ca2+ indicator are identified and the advantages and disadvantages of available Ca2+ indicators are pointed out. The pitfalls associated with usage of Ca2+ indicators together with the clear advantages of ratiometric over non-ratiometric indicators are discussed. The excitation of Ca2+ indicators and detection of the emitted fluorescence light require dedicated equipment; epifluorescence or confocal microscopes are most frequently used for this purpose and the advantages and disadvantages of these are discussed. Calibration experiments are required to translate changes in the fluorescence of Ca2+ indicators into real [Ca2+]i changes, but this procedure is non-trivial and potential sources of error are identified. Future developments in the field of Ca2+ detection are discussed.
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Acknowledgment
Research reported from our laboratory was supported by the Swedish Research Council.
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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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Bruton, J.D., Cheng, A.J., Westerblad, H. (2012). Methods to Detect Ca2+ in Living Cells. In: Islam, M. (eds) Calcium Signaling. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 740. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2888-2_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2888-2_2
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