Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

Fluorescent Calcium Imaging and Subsequent In Situ Hybridization for Neuronal Precursor Characterization in Xenopus laevis
Published on: February 18, 2020
Cumulated Ca2⁺ spike duration underlies Ca2⁺ oscillation frequency-regulated NFκB transcriptional activity
Liping Zhu1, Shanshan Song, Yubo Pi
1Department of Pathophysiology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong Science and Technology University, Wuhan 430030, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
[Ca(2+)](i) oscillations drive downstream events, like transcription, in a frequency-dependent manner. Why [Ca(2+)](i) oscillation frequency regulates transcription has not been clearly revealed. A variation in [Ca(2+)](i) oscillation frequency apparently leads to a variation in the time duration of cumulated [Ca(2+)](i) elevations or cumulated [Ca(2+)](i) spike duration. By manipulating [Ca(2+)](i) spike duration, we generated a series of [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations with the same frequency but different cumulated [Ca(2+)](i) spike durations, as well as [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations with the different frequencies but the same cumulated [Ca(2+)](i) spike duration. Molecular assays demonstrated that, when generated in 'artificial' models alone, under physiologically simulated conditions or repetitive pulses of agonist exposure, [Ca(2+)](i) oscillation regulates NFκB transcriptional activity, phosphorylation of IκBα and Ca(2+)-dependent gene expression all in a way actually dependent on cumulated [Ca(2+)](i) spike duration whether or not frequency varies. This study underlines that [Ca(2+)](i) oscillation frequency regulates NFκB transcriptional activity through cumulated [Ca(2+)](i) spike-duration-mediated IκBα phosphorylation.
Related Concept Videos
Feedback Regulation of Calcium Concentration
Various transmembrane receptors, such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), elicit a response to extracellular signals by increasing cytosolic calcium. Activated GPCRs...
Calmodulin-dependent Signaling
The Ca2+-CaM complex does not have enzymatic activity by itself. Instead, the complex binds downstream target proteins, including membrane proteins or enzymes,...
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Mechanism
The heterodimer of NF-κB...
NF-kB-dependent Signaling Pathway
NF-κB-dependent Signaling Mechanism
The heterodimer of NF-κB...
Co-activators and Co-repressors
The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential.

