Influence of spontaneous calcium events on cell-cycle progression in embryonal carcinoma and adult stem cells

Spontaneous Ca2+ events have been observed in diverse stem cell lines, including carcinoma and mesenchymal stem cells. Interestingly, during cell cycle progression, cells exhibit Ca2+ transients during the G1 to S transition, suggesting that these oscillations may play a role in cell cycle progression. We aimed to study the influence of promoting and blocking calcium oscillations in cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, both in neural progenitor and undifferentiated cells. We also identified which calcium stores are required for maintaining these oscillations. Both in neural progenitor and undifferentiated cells calcium oscillations were restricted to the G1/S transition, suggesting a role for these events in progression of the cell cycle. Maintenance of the oscillations required calcium influx only through inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) and L-type channels in undifferentiated cells, while neural progenitor cells also utilized ryanodine-sensitive stores. Interestingly, promoting calcium oscillations through IP3R agonists increased both proliferation and levels of cell cycle regulators such as cyclins A and E. Conversely, blocking calcium events with IP3R antagonists had the opposite effect in both undifferentiated and neural progenitor cells. This suggests that calcium events created by IP3Rs may be involved in cell cycle progression and proliferation, possibly due to regulation of cyclin levels, both in undifferentiated cells and in neural progenitor cells.