Fluorescent Probes Used for Measuring Intracellular Calcium

Ole H Petersen, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Nina Burdakova, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

Published online: May 2003

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0002642

Calcium signals are produced by sudden increases in the intracellular calcium concentration. The most effective techniques for measuring this concentration use fluorescent or luminescent probes. Two types of probe are widely used: those that undergo a change in fluorescence when calcium is bound, and those that emit light when calcium is bound.

Keywords: calcium ions; fluorescent probes; calcium signals; calcium in organelles; localization of probes

 Further Reading
    Minta A, Kao JPY and Tsien RY (1989) Fluorescent indicators for cytosolic calcium based on rhodamine and fluorescein chromophores. Journal of Biological Chemistry 264: 8171–8178.
    Miyawaki A, Llopis J, Heim R, et al. (1997) Fluorescent indicators for  Ca2+ based on green fluorescent proteins and calmodulin. Nature 388: 882–887.
    Park MK, Petersen OH and Tepikin AV (2000) The endoplasmic reticulum as one continuous  Ca2+ pool: visualization of rapid  Ca2+ movements and equilibration. EMBO J 19: 5729–5739.
    book Petersen OH (ed.) (2001) Measuring Calcium and Calmodulin Inside and Outside Cells. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
    book Tepikin AV (ed.) (2001) Calcium Signalling, 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Tsien RY, Pozzan T and Rink TJ (1982) Calcium homeostasis in intact lymphocytes: cytoplasmic free calcium monitored with a new, intracellularly trapped fluorescent indicator. Journal of Cell Biology 94: 325–334.

Related Sub-Topics:

Cellular Transport | Intracellular and Extracellular Signalling | Techniques in Cell Biology | Biochemical and Biophysical Techniques | Cell Signalling | Molecular Transport
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Article Title: Fluorescent Probes Used for Measuring Intracellular Calcium
 
How to Cite close
Petersen, Ole H, and Burdakova, Nina(May 2003) Fluorescent Probes Used for Measuring Intracellular Calcium. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0002642]