Decoding Ca2+ Signalling Toolkit: From Fundamental Approaches to Cutting-edge Technologies

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Decoding Ca²⁺ Signalling Toolkit: From Fundamental Approaches to Cutting-edge Technologies

Guest Editors

Abeer Alharbi

University of Oxford, Department of Pharmacology

Abeer Alharbi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the College of Pharmacy at King Saud University with first-class honours. She also holds a master's degree in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Minnesota. Currently, she is a DPhil student in the Pharmacology Department of the University of Oxford. Alharbi is interested in pharmacogenomics and oncology research, particularly in applying cancer genomics to provide personalised therapy and information about expected cancer outcomes. At present, she is investigating the role of endo-lysosomal Ca 2+ Signalling via TPC2 in cancer. She has organised and participated as a poster presenter, and she has earned several awards in scientific meetings inside and outside of Saudi Arabia. Alharbi was awarded a short-term fellowship from the European Society of Medical Oncology. Additionally, she has published several scientific abstracts and papers in the oncology field. Alharbi has worked as a teaching assistant in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Alharbi is a member of multiple professional societies, such as the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and the European Society of Medical Oncology.

John Parrington

University of Oxford, Department of Pharmacology

John Parrington is an Associate Professor in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. He has been at the forefront of studying the molecular mechanisms underlying key cell signalling pathways for three decades. He was centrally involved in showing that the physiological agent of egg activation in mammals is a sperm-specific phospholipase C, then identifying this as the protein PLCzeta. His group was the first to show that mutations in PLCzeta can cause certain types of infertility in men. Prof. Parrington’s other important contribution to cell signalling has been to identify and characterize key molecular components of the cADPR and NAADP calcium signalling pathways. He played a central role in identifying the TPCs as integral components of the NAADP receptor, and his group have used TPC KO cells and mice to show that TPCs play important roles in pathophysiological processes, including embryo development, heart and muscle contraction, metabolism, immunity, cell trafficking, neo-angiogenesis, and cancer. The importance of these studies is shown by the publication of his findings in high-impact journals like Nature, EMBO Journal, Current Biology, PNAS, Journal of Cell Biology, Endocrinology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Development, Human Reproduction, Cancers, etc. Prof. Parrington is the author of The Deeper Genome (Oxford University Press, 2015), Redesigning Life (OUP, 2016), and Mind Shift (OUP, 2021). As a British Science Association Media Fellow, Prof. Parrington spent 7 weeks working at The Times where he published 22 science news and feature articles. He has also written for The Guardian, New Scientist, Chemistry World, The Biologist, Biological Sciences Review and Aeon.

Collection Overview

Calcium is a ubiquitous and multi-purpose secondary messenger that exerts its function at both the intracellular and extracellular levels. The current data show that Ca²⁺ homeostasis is dysregulated in various physiological processes related to health and disease, including gene expression, muscle contraction, synaptic transmission, angiogenesis, cytoskeletal remodelling, cell motility and migration, and embryonic development. Hence, the regulation of spatiotemporal Ca²⁺ signals in the form of waves or oscillations has emerged as a research topic relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This collection covers the fundamental approaches and cutting-edge technologies in use in the evolving field of calcium signalling and is intended to serve as a go-to resource for junior and senior scientists to aid their daily scientific research. This collection can also be utilised as a tool to characterise the effects of intracellular and extracellular Ca²⁺ signalling pathways that contribute to the physiological processes at the local level and that ultimately lead to disease development at the global level. Further research in the calcium signaling field would be of great help in expanding our knowledge of the role of Ca²⁺ homeostasis in health and disease, and in revealing the underlying molecular mechanisms of calcium signalling proteins in pathophysiological processes. This new knowledge would ultimately lead to the identification of novel and specific downstream Ca²⁺ signalling proteins that could serve as drug targets in therapeutic approaches to disease treatment.