REVIEW - CALCIUM-BINDING PROTEINS IN THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Many intracellular calcium responsive proteins contain a common struct ural feature, ''EF-hand motif'' within their sequence. Among them, par valbumin, calbindin and calretinin are localized in mostly separate su bsets of neurons in the brain although they are co-expressed in some n eurons. They are considered to participate in the regulation of the co ncentration of intracellular calcium ion. On the other hand, S100 beta is primarily expressed in glial cells in the brain. This review intro duces the molecular feature of these proteins and recent works on thei r distribution in the adult and developing brain with respect to the a natomical and functional view as well as questions to be clarified in the future.