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Updated: Jul 22, 2026

Direct Imaging of ER Calcium with Targeted-Esterase Induced Dye Loading (TED)
Published on: May 7, 2013
Structural complexity and functional diversity of endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) stores
1Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. mblauste@umaryland.edu
Abstract:
Considerable evidence, including recent direct observations, suggest that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) stores in neurons, glia, and other cell types, consists of spatially-distinct compartments that can be individually loaded and unloaded. In addition, sub-plasmalemmal ('junctional') components of the ER (jER) are functionally coupled to the overlying plasmalemmal (PL) microdomains in PL-jER units named 'PLasmERosomes'. The PL microdomains and the jER contain clusters of specific transport proteins that regulate Na(+) and Ca(2+) concentrations in the tiny cytosolic space between the PL and jER. This organization helps the ER to produce the many types of complex local and global Ca(2+) signals that are responsible for the simultaneous control of numerous neuronal and glial functions.
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