Novel Mechanisms in Ca2+ Homeostasis and Internal Store Refilling of Airway Smooth Muscle

Calcium is known to play a key role in excitation–contraction coupling of airway smooth muscle (ASM) and may also be important in other cellular responses, such as gene expression, migration, proliferation, and apoptosis. The sarcoplasmic reticulum acts as an agonist-releasable store of Ca2+ and as a sink to buffer changes in cytosolic [Ca2+]i. ASM also expresses, in great abundance, other Ca2+-mobilizing effectors such as voltage-dependent …