The basis of nuclear phospholipase C in cell proliferation.

Ca2+ is a highly versatile intracellular signal that regulates many biological processes such as cell death and proliferation. Broad Ca2+-signaling machinery is used to assemble signaling systems with a precise spatial and temporal resolution to achieve this versatility. Ca2+-signaling components can be organized in different regions of the cell and local increases in Ca2+ within the nucleus can regulate different cellular functions from the increases in cytosolic Ca2+. However, the mechanisms and pathways that promote localized increases in Ca2+ levels in the nucleus are still under investigation. This review presents evidence that the nucleus has its own Ca2+ stores and signaling machinery, which modulate processes such as cell proliferation and tumor growth. We focus on what is known about the functions of nuclear Phospholipase C (PLC) in the generation of nuclear Ca2+ transients that are involved in cell proliferation.