Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Apr 26, 2021; 13(4): 260-280
Published online Apr 26, 2021. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v13.i4.260
Calcium channels and their role in regenerative medicine
Nassem Ahamad, Brij B Singh
Nassem Ahamad, Brij B Singh, School of Dentistry, UT Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78257, United States
Author contributions: Ahamad N and Singh BB wrote and edited this manuscript.
Supported by National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, No. 1R21DE028265-01A1.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Brij B Singh, PhD, Dean, Full Professor, School of Dentistry, UT Health Science Center San Antonio, 7703, Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, TX 78257, United States. singhbb@uthscsa.edu
Received: January 19, 2021
Peer-review started: January 19, 2021
First decision: February 13, 2021
Revised: February 22, 2021
Accepted: March 29, 2021
Article in press: March 29, 2021
Published online: April 26, 2021
Processing time: 92 Days and 18.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Regenerative medicine has the potential to replace damaged tissues. Stem cells provide new hope for regenerative therapy as they have indefinite self-renewable capability and can differentiate into all cell types. Stem cells can be obtained from both exogenous and endogenous sources. Moreover, stem cells migrate towards the damaged organs; however, signaling molecules/factors that allow them to move to damaged organs and facilitate repair have not been fully identified. Ca2+ signaling is critical for appropriate functioning of stem cells. Importantly, Ca2+ signaling is highly adaptable, and how it modulates stem cell function and its regenerative capacity is discussed in this article.