Calcium-associated mechanisms in gut pacemaker activity

J Cell Mol Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;11(5):958-68. doi: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2007.00107.x.

Abstract

A considerable body of evidence has revealed that interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), identified with c-Kit-immunoreactivity, act as gut pacemaker cells, with spontaneous Ca(2+) activity in ICC as the probable primary mechanism. Namely, intracellular (cytosolic) Ca(2+) oscillations in ICC periodically activate plasmalemmal Ca(2+)-dependent ion channels and thereby generate pacemaker potentials. This review will, thus, focus on Ca(2+)-associated mechanisms in ICC in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including auxiliary organs.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Clocks / physiology*
  • Calcium / metabolism*
  • Calcium Channels / metabolism
  • Calcium Signaling
  • Chloride Channels / metabolism
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / cytology
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / physiology*
  • Humans

Substances

  • Calcium Channels
  • Chloride Channels
  • Calcium