It is well established that mammalian cells contain a small but measurable pool of free or labile zinc in the cytosol that is buffered in the high picomolar range. Recent attention has focused on the fact that this pool of free zinc has signalling effects that can be evoked through extracellular stimuli posing the question as to whether zinc should be regarded as a second messenger. Our knowledge of the targets, the biological significance and the molecular mechanisms of zinc signalling is limited but recent evidence suggests that zinc homoeostasis may be intimately linked to intracellular calcium signalling. In this review, we discuss the role of zinc as an intracellular signalling molecule with an emphasis on the potential role of zinc in shaping calcium-dynamics in cardiac muscle. We also consider the evidence that the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) is a potential zinc signalling target.
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June 2015
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Conference Article|
June 01 2015
Examining a new role for zinc in regulating calcium release in cardiac muscle
Samantha J. Pitt;
Samantha J. Pitt
1
*School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TF, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailsjp24@st-andrews.ac.uk).
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Alan J. Stewart
Alan J. Stewart
*School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TF, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
October 23 2014
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2015 Biochemical Society
2015
Biochem Soc Trans (2015) 43 (3): 359–363.
Article history
Received:
October 23 2014
Citation
Samantha J. Pitt, Alan J. Stewart; Examining a new role for zinc in regulating calcium release in cardiac muscle. Biochem Soc Trans 1 June 2015; 43 (3): 359–363. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20140285
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