Endoplasmic reticulum calcium tunnels integrate signalling in polarised cells

One of the most crucial aspects of Ca(2+) signalling is the ability to generate highly localised transient elevations of the cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration at specific strategically important target sites. Inevitably this necessitates a relatively high Ca(2+) buffering power of the cytoplasm, which in turn makes movement of Ca(2+) from one part of a cell to another difficult. Nature has evolved an elegant solution to this problem by creating operational Ca(2+) tunnels through the endoplasmic reticulum. Very recently direct evidence that such tunnelling also occurs in neurons has been provided.