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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Registration of Calcium Transients in Mouse Neuromuscular Junction with High Temporal Resolution using Confocal Microscopy
Published on: December 1, 2021
Calcium regulation of ciliary motility analysis of axonemal calcium-binding proteins
Christen DiPetrillo1, Elizabeth Smith
1Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Abstract:
Substantial data have contributed to a model in which the axonemal microtubules act as a scaffold for the assembly of molecules that form a signal transduction pathway that ultimately regulates dynein. We have also known for some time that for virtually all motile cilia and flagella, the second messenger, calcium, impacts upon these signaling pathways to modulate beating in response to extracellular cues. Yet we are only beginning to identify the axonemal proteins that bind this second messenger and determine their role in regulating dynein-driven microtubule sliding to alter the size and shape of ciliary bends. Here, we review our current understanding of calcium regulation of motility, emphasizing recent advances in the detection and characterization of calcium-binding proteins anchored to the axoneme.
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