Studies on control of fluid secretion by an insect salivary gland led to the discovery of inositol
trisphosphate (IP3) and its role in calcium signalling. Many cell stimuli act on receptors that …

An experiment performed in London nearly 120 years ago, which by today's standards
would be considered unacceptably sloppy, marked the beginning of the calcium (Ca2+) …

Calcium is a ubiquitous second messenger used to regulate a wide range of cellular
processes. This role in signalling has to be conducted against the rigid homeostatic …

▪ Abstract Highly enriched in brain tissue and present throughout the body, Ca2+/calmodulin-
dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is central to the coordination and execution of Ca2+ …

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) contraction is controlled by the Ca2+ and Rho kinase signalling
pathways. While the SMC Rho kinase system seems to be reasonably constant, there is …

The orderly sequence of events that constitutes the cell cycle is carefully regulated. A part of
this regulation depends upon the ubiquitous calcium signalling system. Many growth factors …

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract displays multiple motor patterns that move nutrients and
wastes through the body. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) provide the forces necessary for GI …

The original idea that calcium might enter cells through a capacitative mechanism was first
introduced by Jim Putney [1]. The somewhat surprising hypothesis was that calcium entry …

My scientific career was shaped by my early life in Africa. I was born in 1938 in a small town
called Gatooma (now called Kadoma) in what was then Southern Rhodesia. This country in …

The smooth muscle of arterioles responds to an increase in intraluminal pressure with
vasoconstriction and with vasodilation when pressure is decreased. Such myogenic …