Recent advances in the molecular understanding of voltage gated Ca2+ channels

It has long been recognized that the activity of voltage-sensitive Ca21 channels (VSCCs) is central to the function of all excitable cells (i.e., cells that fire action potentials), as well as many nonexcitable cells (Hille, 1992). VSCCs provide a crucial link between a cell’s membrane potential and the enormous number of intracellular processes that either directly utilize elevations of [Ca21]i as a functional trigger (e.g., exocytosis, muscle contraction) or are modulated by Ca21-dependent signalling cascades (e.g., gene expression, cell division) (Catterall, 1995; Bito et al., 1997; Morgan and Curran, 1988; Tanabe et al., 1993; Dunlap et al., 1995).