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La controversia de la muerte celular mediada por calcio, ¿es disparada por la mitocondria o el retículo endoplásmico?

2002; Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México; Volume: 9; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

2395-8782

Alejandro Martínez Goméz, Myrna A.R. Dent,

Cell death mechanisms and regulation

Calcium (Ca 2+ ) is one of the main intracellular signals, that modulates essential biological processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, exocytosis and metabolism, as well as muscle contraction. Ca 2+ is involved in both, life and death signals, since high levels of intracellular Ca 2+ are necessary to an act as a signal, but continued high levels of Ca 2+ are lethal to the cell, leading to apoptotic or necrotic cell death. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the mitochondria are both essential to maintain the right levels of Ca 2+ . Currently, there is a controversy about whether Ca 2+ -mediated cell death is triggered by the mitochondrion or by the ER. Available evidence suggests that both organelles are involved in cell death through independent signaling pathways, but it also suggests that the cellular death triggered by the ER has the mitochondria as a target and viceversa. Therefore, the balance of Ca 2+ homeostasis in both the ER and the mitochondrion must be crucial for the correct functioning of the cell.