Calcium Release Activated Channels (CRAC) are specialized plasma membrane Ca2+ ion channels. When calcium ions (Ca2+) are depleted from the endoplasmic reticulum (a major store of Ca2+) of mammalian cells, the CRAC channel is activated to slowly replenish the level of calcium in the endoplasmic reticulum. The plasma membrane protein "Orai" (ORAI1 and ORAI2 in humans) forms the pore of CRAC channel.
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Other articles related to "calcium release activated channels, release, calcium":
... Such signals can arise either from the release of stored calcium or the calcium influx across the plasma membrane, but more characteristically, from both routes ... A common mechanism by which such cytoplasmic calcium signals are generated involves receptors that are coupled to the activation of phospholipase C ... (most commonly components of the endoplasmic reticulum), allowing calcium to be released into the cytosol ...
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