Role of NAADP in Coordinating Spatiotemporal Aspects of Calcium Signalling

Abstract

We outline the roles of two low molecular weight phosphorylated compounds as intracellular messengers in calcium signaling. These new intracellular messengers (cyclic ADP-ribose-cADPR and nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate-NAADP) have been shown to regulate calcium signalling across the plant and animal kingdoms. A central question in cell biology is what are the mechanisms by which calcium ions, arguably most important and universal regulator of cell activation, can encode specificity. The hypothesis that we have been testing is that exist in cells multiple signalling molecules and pathways which give rise to different patterns of calcium signals leading to highly specific cellular responses. We discuss new information about the molecular components of these new Ca ²⁺ signalling pathways and their role in generating Ca ²⁺ signals.