Abstract
It was almost a century ago when Sidney Ringer demonstrated that extracellular Ca2+ is essential for the normal functioning of the isolated frog heart [19]. Although it was assumed for some time that Ca2+ stabilized the plasma membrane of the heart cell, the key Ca2+ pool in terms of cardiac contractile function is the small pool of free Ca2+ in the cell cytosol, [Ca2++]c. The concentration of Ca2+ in this pool rises during systole and falls during diastole. The rise precedes the contractile response, and the fall precedes the relaxation process. Troponin C has been identified as the calcium receptor component of the contractile protein system [5]. Thus, we have come a long way toward defining the cellular basis of Ca2+ action in the cardiac cell. However, in the past 10–15 years, we have also come to realize that this messenger or coupling function of Ca2+ is not confined to the heart, or other excitable tissues, but is a universal one [17]. Ca2+ serves as a coupling factor or second messenger in the evocation of the specific response of almost every type of differentiated cell by its appropriate extracellular messenger, which may be a hormone, circulating metabolite, or neurotransmitter.
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© 1985 Plenum Press, New York
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Rasmussen, H. (1985). Calcium Ion. In: Rubin, R.P., Weiss, G.B., Putney, J.W. (eds) Calcium in Biological Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2377-8_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2377-8_2
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