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Updated: May 23, 2026

Monitoring ER/SR Calcium Release with the Targeted Ca2+ Sensor CatchER+
Published on: May 19, 2017
Elementary calcium release events from the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the heart
Didier X P Brochet1, Dongmei Yang, Heping Cheng
1Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Maryland, 725 W. Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. dbrochet@umaryland.edu
None:
Ca(2+) release events underlie global Ca(2+) signaling yet they are regulated by local, subcellular signaling features. Here we review the latest developments of different elementary Ca(2+) release features that include Ca(2+) sparks, Ca(2+) blinks (the corresponding depletion of Ca(2+) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) during a spark) and the recently identified small Ca(2+) release events called quarky SR Ca(2+) release (QCR). QCR events arise from the opening of only a few type 2 ryanodine receptors (RyR2s) - possibly only one. Recent reports suggest that QCR events can be commingled with Ca(2+) sparks and may thus explain some variations observed in Ca(2+) sparks. The Ca(2+) spark termination mechanism and the number of RyR2 channels activated during a Ca(2+) spark will be discussed with respect to both Ca(2+) sparks and QCR events.
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