A “mix-and-match” approach to designing Ca 2+ microdomains at membrane-contact sites

Abstract

Ca(2+) microdomains are critical for regulating cellular activity and often form at membrane contact sites. Such sites between lysosomes and the ER potentially provide a platform for signaling by the Ca(2+) mobilizing messenger NAADP. However, at present we know little of how Ca(2+) release events are coordinated at these experimentally intractable junctions. We therefore developed a computational model of lysosome-ER microdomains, which suggested that small leaks of Ca(2+) from the lysosome couple to Ca(2+)-sensitive Ins(1,4,5)P 3 receptors on the ER to generate global, microdomain-dependent Ca(2+) signals. Here we discuss how the "mix-and-match" arrangement of different Ca(2+) signaling proteins on the "source" and "target" membranes might generate functionally heterogeneous Ca(2+) microdomains.