A Revolving Door for Calcium

摘要

Mitochondria are subcellular organ-elles that produce energy in the form of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) in response to chemical cues. They encode and decode cytosolic calcium (Ca~(2+)) signals, which can boost cellular respiration by regulating mitochondrial enzymes, but can also induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) by controlling the organelle's permeability. The Ca~(2+) transporters of mitochondria are well characterized functionally but have not been identified.