Neurotransmitter system calcium regulation

Mechanism of Action An electrolyte that is essential for the function and integrity of the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems. Calcium plays an important role in normal cardiac and renal function, respiration, blood coagulation, and cell membrane and capillary permeability. It helps regulate the release and storage of neurotransmitters and hormones, and it neutralizes or reduces gastric acid (increase pH). Calcium acetate combines with dietary phosphate to form insoluble calcium phosphate. Therapeutic Effect Replaces calcium in deficiency states controls hyperphosphatemia in end-stage renal disease. 

Figure 5 Proteomics reveals functional secretory vesicle protein systems for neuropeptide biosynthesis, storage, and secretion. Chromaffin secretory vesicles (also known as chromaffin granules) were isolated and subjected to proteomic analyses of proteins in the soluble and membrane components of the vesicles. Protein systems in secretory vesicle function consisted of those for 1) production of hormones, neurotransmitters, and neuromodulatory factors, 2) generating selected internal vesicular conditions for reducing condition, acidic pH conditions maintained by ATPases, and chaperones for protein folding, and 3) vesicular trafficking mechanisms to allow the mobilization of secretory vesicles for exocytosis, which uses proteins for nucleotide-binding, calcium regulation, and vesicle exocytosis. These protein systems are coordinated to allow the secretory vesicle to synthesize and release neuropeptides for cell-cell communication in the control of neuroendocrine functions.

In the central nervous system, calcium is implicated in the regulation of membrane excitability, neurotransmitter release, axonal transport, dendrite morphology and regulation of numerous enzymatic reactions. Intracellular concentration of free calcium must be precisely regulated to maintain a strong Ca" " gradient between the cytoplasm (lO M) and the extracellular space (lO M). 

Calcium ions are essential in a variety of physiological processes including blood clotting, release of neurotransmitter at the synapse, cell division, cell adhesion, secretion, bioluminescence, membrane permeability, muscle contraction, and bio-mineralization35,174 176. In most of these systems, the disposition and functions of membrane proteins are a key in transport and regulation of calcium. Thus in order to understand the functionality of calcium one should look at a membrane system where the biochemical interplay of calcium is known in detail. 

Under conditions of the resting cell, all these voltage-dependent channels are closed. Activated by depolarization, they allow huge amounts of calcium to enter the cell. These channels are controlled by complex regulation systems involving different neurotransmitters. 

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