Calcium signalling in diabetes

Molecular cascades responsible for Ca2+ homeostasis and Ca2+ signalling could be assembled in highly plastic toolkits that define physiological adaptation of cells to the environment and which are intimately involved in all types of cellular pathology. Control over Ca2+ concentration in different cellular compartments is intimately linked to cell metabolism, because (i) ATP production requires low Ca2+, (ii) Ca2+ homeostatic systems consume ATP and (iii) Ca2+ signals in mitochondria stimulate ATP synthesis being an essential part of excitation-metabolic coupling. The communication between the ER and mitochondria plays an important role in this metabolic fine tuning. In the insulin resistance state and diabetes this communication has been impaired leading to different disorders, for instance, diminished insulin production by pancreatic beta cells, reduced heart and skeletal muscle contractility, reduced NO production by endothelial cells, increased glucose production by liver, increased lipolysis by adipose cells, reduced immune responses, reduced cognitive functions, among others. All these processes eventually trigger degenerative events resulting in overt diabetes due to reduction of pancreatic beta cell mass, and different complications of diabetes, such as retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, and different cardiovascular diseases.