Wei CL, Wang XH, Chen M, Ouyang KF, Song LS, Cheng HP*, Calcium flickers steer cell migration. NATURE, 457, 901-905, 2009.

Abstract Directional movement is a property common to all cell types during development and is critical to tissue remodelling and regeneration after damage. In migrating cells, calcium has a multifunctional role in directional sensing, cytoskeleton redistribution, traction force generation, and relocation of focal adhesions. Here we visualize high-calcium microdomains ('calcium flickers') and their patterned activation in migrating human embryonic lung fibroblasts. Calcium flicker activity is dually coupled to membrane tension (by means of TRPM7, a stretch-activated Ca(2+)-permeant channel of the transient receptor potential superfamily) and chemoattractant signal transduction (by means of type 2 inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors). Interestingly, calcium flickers are most active at t......