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The Progress of STIM/SOCE Channel Regulating Cellular Function
Ma Teng1, Quan Hongyu2, Zhao Baixiong3, Li Hongli4*
1Battlion 7 of Cadet Brigade; 2Battalion 19 of Biomedical Engineering; 3Battalion 4 of Cadet Brigade;4Department of Histology and Embryology, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China
Abstract: Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is one of the important channels mediating extracellular Ca2+ entry. Stromal interaction molecule (STIM) proteins in the membrane of endoplasmic reticulum and Orai proteins in the plasma membrane are two key components of SOCE. Studies have presented two homologues of STIM ―STIM1 and STIM2， with slight difference in function. After the depletion of Ca2+ store， STIM undergoes rapid multimerization and translocation to interact and activate Orai by its specific structures which sense the change of Ca2+ store to activate and open SOCE channel for inward Ca2+ influx. After restoring of Ca2+， STIM slowly dissociates with Orai and becomes inactive to shut the channel. In current studies about STIM structure and function， it is suggested that STIM is involved in the regulation of cellular functions: proliferation， differentiation， etc via turning active or inactive to regulate the open and shut of SOCE channel. The novel functions of STIM predict that it has a great potential to become new target of diseases.
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