Topic: L-VGCCs

Calcium, an important secondary messenger, lies at the hub of multiple signaling pathways. The increase in cytosolic calcium contributed by different calcium-permeable channels can create transient high-calcium microenvironments and activate distinct signaling cascades in neurons. The spatio-temporal calcium changes, and calcium-mediated signaling pathways act as critical regulators of synaptic plasticity. Here, we have studied the regulation of activity-mediated protein synthesis by calcium response generated on NMDAR or mGluR stimulation in rat primary cortical neurons. Using calcium imaging

L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (L-VGCCs) are upstream of competing pathways that promote or inhibit dendritic growth. How L-VGCCs achieve signaling specificity remains unknown. We hypothesize that modulation of ICaL determines distinct processes controlling dendritic growth. To address this issue fluorescence imaging experiments were conducted on young murine cultured hippocampal neurons. Our findings show that dihydropyridine (DHP) blockers suppress dendritic growth and overexpression of DHP-insensitive CaV1.2 mutant prevented this effect, indicating that CaV1.2 is the channel isoform