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AAT Bioquest

Are there any secondary messengers involved in the lysosomal calcium signaling pathway?

Posted July 9, 2018


Answer

Yes, nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP, Cat# 20999) is a Ca2+ mobilizing secondary messenger.  Like IP3 and cADPR, NAADP binds to and opens Ca2+ channels on intracellular organelles. However, NAADP does not mobilize Ca2+ from the ER. Rather, it selectively targets and mobilizes Ca2+ from acidic Ca2+ stores such as endosomes, lysosomes, secretory granules and Golgi bodies. Recent research suggests that NAADP targets a family of membrane bound ion-channels, called two-pore channels (TPC), in order to stimulate Ca2+ release.

Since NAADP is negatively charged, it imposes difficulties when loading into live cells requiring invasive techniques such as microinjection, loading via liposomes or electroporation.  When assaying lysosomal Ca2+ signaling in live cells, use NAADP-AM (Cat# 20997), which is a cell-permeant analog of NAADP. It can easily penetrate intact cell membranes of live cells and induce NAADP-mediated calcium signaling.

Additional resources

NAADP-AM product page

NAADP [Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate sodium salt] *CAS 5502-96-5* product page