Store operated calcium entry: From concept to structural mechanisms

In 1986, J.W. Putney presented a model for capacitative calcium (Ca²⁺) entry conveying that depletion of endoplasmic reticulum stored Ca²⁺ levels leads to activation of plasma membrane Ca²⁺ channels which mediate influx of Ca²⁺ from the extracellular space into cells. Presently, the biomolecules regulating this process, more widely known as store operated Ca²⁺ entry (SOCE) which is vital to myriad signaling pathways in health and disease, are known and the focus of intense structural biology research aiming to illuminate the atomic mechanisms of function. This brief review highlights the known structures with respect to the mechanisms of SOCE regulation and possible future directions in this field developed out of Putney's conceptualization of this process.