Tracking stars: automated two-dimensional analysis of Ca2+ events. Focus on “Automated region of interest analysis of dynamic Ca2+ signals in image sequences”

ca2+ ion serves as a multifunctional messenger that is responsible for numerous cellular functions. Since the first recording of Ca2+ transients using aequorin in live cells, technological advances have been made on many fronts for monitoring intracellular Ca2+ dynamics. These advances include both the engineering of a large repertoire of Ca2+ fluorescent probes and target-specific biosensors whose optical properties are sensitive to intracellular Ca2+ concentration, as well as improvements in the detection and imaging of Ca2+ signals with high temporal and spatial resolution at subcellular levels within the cytosol and specific organelles such as sarcoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and nucleus.