Mitochondrial calcium handling during ischemia-induced cell death in neurons

Mitochondria sense and shape cytosolic Ca2+ signals by taking up and subsequently releasing Ca2+ ions during physiological and pathological Ca2+ elevations. Sustained elevations in the mitochondrial matrix Ca2+ concentration are increasingly recognized as a defining feature of the intracellular cascade of lethal events that occur in neurons during cerebral ischemia. Here, we review the recently identified transport proteins that mediate the fluxes of Ca2+ across mitochondria and discuss the implication of the permeability transition pore in decoding the abnormally sustained mitochondrial Ca2+ elevations that occur during cerebral ischemia. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.