How to win ATP and influence Ca2+ signaling

This brief review discusses recent advances in studies of mitochondrial Ca2+ signaling and considers how the relationships between mitochondria and Ca2+ responses are shaped in secretory epithelial cells. Perhaps the more precise title of this review could have been “How to win ATP and influence Ca2+ signaling in secretory epithelium with emphasis on exocrine secretory cells and specific focus on pancreatic acinar cells”. But “brevity is a virtue” and the authors hope that many of the mechanisms discussed are general and applicable to other tissues and cell types. Among these mechanisms are mitochondrial regulation of Ca2+ entry and the role of mitochondria in the formation of localized Ca2+ responses. The roles of Ca2+ signaling in the physiological adjustment of bioenergetics and in mitochondrial damage are also briefly discussed.