Calcium imaging Calcium imaging Calcium imaging is a scientific technique usually carried out in research which is designed to show the calcium (Ca) status of an isolated cell, tissue or medium. Calcium imaging techniques take advantage of so-called calcium indicators, fluorescent molecules that can respond to the binding of Ca ions by changing their fluorescence properties. Two main classes of calcium indicators exist: chemical indicators and genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECI). Calcium imaging can be used to optically probe intracellular calcium in living animals. This technique has allowed studies of calcium signalling in a wide variety of cell types and neuronal activity
Mitochondrial calcium uniporter Calcium is balanced through the MCU in conjunction with the sodium-calcium exchanger. The MCU has a very low affinity for calcium, so the cytosolic calcium concentration needs to be approximately 5-10 uM for significant transport of calcium into the mitochondria. Mitochondria are closely associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), at contact sites, which contains stores of cellular calcium ions for calcium signaling. The presence of 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP) triggers the release of calcium from these intracellular stores, which creates microdomains of high calcium concentration between the ER and the mitochondria, creating the conditions for the MCU to take up calcium. Ruthenium