IMR Press / FBL / Volume 7 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.2741/A818

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Postsynaptic calcium signaling microdomains in neurons
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1 Cellular Neurology Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Building 36, Room 5W21, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
2 Center for Learning and Memory, RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Academic Editor:Emanuel Strehler
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2002, 7(4), 872–885; https://doi.org/10.2741/A818
Published: 1 April 2002
Abstract

Calcium ions are crucial messengers in the regulation of synaptic efficacy. In the postsynaptic neuron, this is exemplified by the tight temporal and spatial co-segregation of calcium ions with calcium-dependent signal transduction protein complexes in dendritic spines. Over the last several years optical imaging, physiological, structural, and biological studies have clarified the molecular mechanisms underlying differential calcium signaling within the spine. In this review, we discuss how calcium signaling "microdomains" are organized and regulated. We emphasize the structural and functional features of precisely regulated supramolecular complexes incorporating proteins involved in calcium influx, calcium efflux, and signal transduction. These complexes act in concert to orchestrate the sophisticated postsynaptic calcium signaling that underlies synaptic plasticity.

Keywords
Postsynaptic density
PDZ domain
Dendritic Spine
Review
Calcium
Neuron
Review
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