Deleterious effects of calcium indicators within cells; an inconvenient truth

Bootman, Martin D.; Allman, Sarah; Rietdorf, Katja and Bultynck, Geert (2018). Deleterious effects of calcium indicators within cells; an inconvenient truth. Cell Calcium, 73 pp. 82–87.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceca.2018.04.005

Abstract

The study of cellular Ca^⁠2+ signalling is indebted to Roger Tsien for the invention of fluorescent indicators that can be readily loaded into living cells and provide the means to measure cellular Ca⁠^⁠2+ changes over long periods of time with sub-second resolution and microscopic precision. However, a recent study [1] reminds us that as useful as these tools are they need to be employed with caution as there can be off-target effects. This article summarises these recent findings within the wider context of confounding issues that can be encountered when using chemical and genetically-encoded Ca⁠^⁠2+ indicators, and briefly discusses some approaches that may mitigate against misleading outcomes.

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