Cytosolic Ca2+ plays a central role in the regulation of numerous aspects of cellular activity in virtually all cell types. Much of this versatility arises through the diverse mechanisms by which Ca2+ signals are generated and transmitted to act over very different time and distance scales. For example, Ca2+ can act in a very fast and highly localized manner, as in the triggering of neurotransmitter release within microseconds of Ca2+ entry through voltage-gated channels closely apposed to active release zones (Neher 1998); or it can evoke slower responses involving global Ca2+ elevations throughout the cell, as in the generation of Ca2+-dependent Cl currents by Ca2+ waves that take many seconds to sweep across Xenopus oocytes (Parker and Yao 1994). A common starting point in considering these...

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