Evidence Hub

Calcium Ions in the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System

Damian Pikor, Mikołaj Hurła, Bartosz Kazimierz Słowikowski, Oliwia Szymanowicz, Joanna Poszwa, Natalia Banaszek, Alicja Drelichowska, Paweł Piotr Jagodziński et al.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2024

69 citations

Abstract

Calcium ions play a key role in the physiological processes of the central nervous system. The intracellular calcium signal, in nerve cells, is part of the neurotransmission mechanism. They are responsible for stabilizing membrane potential and controlling the excitability of neurons. Calcium ions are a universal second messenger that participates in depolarizing signal transduction and contributes to synaptic activity. These ions take an active part in the mechanisms related to memory and learning. As a result of depolarization of the plasma membrane or stimulation of receptors, there is an extracellular influx of calcium ions into the cytosol or mobilization of these cations inside the cell, which increases the concentration of these ions in neurons. The influx of calcium ions into neurons occurs via plasma membrane receptors and voltage-dependent ion channels. Calcium channels play a key role in the functioning of the nervous system, regulating, among others, neuronal depolarization and neurotransmitter release. Channelopathies are groups of diseases resulting from mutations in genes encoding ion channel subunits, observed including the pathophysiology of neurological diseases such as migraine. A disturbed ability of neurons to maintain an appropriate level of calcium ions is also observed in such neurodegenerative processes as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and epilepsy. This review focuses on the involvement of calcium ions in…

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free