Calcium signaling by cyclic ADP-ribose and NAADP. A decade of exploration

Ca2+ mobilization as a signaling mechanism has been placed on center stage with the discovery of the first Ca2+ messenger, inositol trisphosphate (IP3). This article focuses on two new Ca2+ release activators, which mobilize internal Ca2+ stores via mechanisms totally independent of IP3. They are cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) and nicotinic acid dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP), metabolites derived respectively from NAD and NADP. Major advances in the past decade in the understanding of these two novel signaling mechanisms are chronologically summarized.