Abstract
Calcium (Ca) is a universal intracellular second messenger. In muscle,
Ca is best known for its role in contractile activation. However,
in recent years the critical role of Ca in other myocyte processes
has become increasingly clear. This review focuses on Ca signaling
in cardiac myocytes as pertaining to electrophysiology (including
action potentials and arrhythmias), excitation-contraction coupling,
modulation of contractile function, energy supply-demand balance
(including mitochondrial function), cell death, and transcription
regulation. Importantly, although such diverse Ca-dependent regulations
occur simultaneously in a cell, the cell can distinguish distinct
signals by local Ca or protein complexes and differential Ca signal
integration.
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