Silence of STIM1 attenuates the proliferation and migration of EPCs after vascular injury and its mechanism

Ca2+ signaling in cytoskeletal reorganization, cell migration, and cancer metastasis

Proper control of Ca²⁺ signaling is mandatory for effective cell migration, which is critical for embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. However, how Ca²⁺ coordinates structural components and signaling molecules for proper cell motility had remained elusive. With the advance of fluorescent live-cell Ca²⁺ imaging in recent years, we gradually understand how Ca²⁺ is regulated spatially and temporally in migrating cells, driving polarization, protrusion, retraction, and adhesion at the right place and right time. Here we give an overview about how cells create local Ca²⁺ pulses near the leading edge, maintain cytosolic Ca²⁺ gradient from back to front, and restore Ca²⁺ depletion for persistent cell motility. Differential roles of Ca²⁺ in regulating various effectors and the interaction of roles of Ca²⁺ signaling with other pathways during migration are also discussed. Such information might suggest a new direction to control cancer metastasis by manipulating Ca²⁺ and its associating signaling molecules in a judicious manner.