Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026

Automated Multimodal Stimulation and Simultaneous Neuronal Recording from Multiple Small Organisms
Published on: March 3, 2023
Unraveling STIM2 function
Esther López1, Ginés M Salido, Juan A Rosado
1Department of Physiology (Cellular Physiology Research Group), University of Extremadura, Av. Universidad s/n, 10003, Cáceres, Spain.
Abstract:
The discovery of molecular players in capacitative calcium (Ca(2+)) entry, also referred to as store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE), supposed a great advance in the knowledge of cellular mechanisms of Ca(2+) entry, which are essential for a broad range of cellular functions. The identification of STIM1 and STIM2 proteins as the sensors of Ca(2+) stored in the endoplasmic reticulum unraveled the mechanism by which depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) stores is communicated to store-operated Ca(2+) channels located in the plasma membrane, triggering the activation of SOCE and intracellular Ca(2+)-dependent signaling cascades. Initial studies suggested a dominant function of STIM1 in SOCE and SOCE-dependent cellular functions compared to STIM2, especially those that participate in immune responses. Consequently, most of the subsequent studies focused on STIM1. However, during the last years, STIM2 has been demonstrated to play a more relevant and complex function than initially reported, being even important to sustain normal life in mice. These studies have led to reconsider the role of STIM2 in SOCE and its relevance in cellular physiology. This review is intended to summarize and provide an overview of the current data available about this exciting isoform, STIM2, and its actual position together with STIM1 in the mechanism of SOCE.
Related Concept Videos
Transducer Mechanism: Enzyme-Linked Receptors
Major types that are helpful drug targets include:
Amplifying Signals via Second Messengers
Transducer Mechanism: G Protein–Coupled Receptors
GPCRs are also called heptahelical, 7TM, or...
Muscle Stimulation Frequency
Wave summation
At low firing rates, motor neurons induce individual twitch contractions in muscle fibers. These twitches...
Amplifying Signals via Enzymatic Cascade
Motor Unit Stimulation
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
