The role of the Golgi-resident SPCA Ca²⁺/Mn²⁺ pump in ionic homeostasis and neural function

Recent evidence highlights the functional importance of the Golgi apparatus (GA) in neurological diseases. The functions of the mammalian GA, in addition to the processing and transport of cargo, also include ionic homeostasis. Besides Ca²⁺-release channels which serves GA as an agonist-sensitive intracellular Ca²⁺ store, and Ca²⁺-binding proteins, the GA contains Ca²⁺-uptake mechanisms consisting of the well-known sarco-endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-transport ATPases and the much less characterized secretory-pathway Ca²⁺-transport ATPases (SPCA). SPCA can transport both Ca²⁺ and Mn²⁺ into the Golgi lumen and therefore is involved in the cytosolic and intra-Golgi Ca²⁺ and Mn²⁺ homeostasis. It has shown that both of the mRNA and protein of SPCAs are highly expressed in brain. In addition, brain is the region with the highest activity of SPCA isoforms, which may be related to the involvement of Ca²⁺ and Mn²⁺ homeostasis in neural functions. In this review, we compile some recent findings showing that the SPCA isoform plays a much more important role in intracellular ionic homeostasis than previously anticipated and illustrating the involvement of SPCA isoforms in certain neurophysiological or neuropathological process. We are interested in gaining insight into the intricate role of the SPCA pumps to explain the GA-specific functions in neurological disorders.