Eva C. Schwarz, Bin Qu, Markus Hoth ⁎

Department of Biophysics, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
Article info.
Article history:
Received 22 September 2012
Received in revised form 16 November 2012
Accepted 18 November 2012
Available online 3 December 2012

Abstract

Killing cancer cells by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and by natural killer (NK) cells is of vital importance. Cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis depend on the intracellular Ca2+ concentration, and the expression of numerous ion channels with the ability to control intracellular Ca2+ concentrations has been correlated with cancer. A rise of intracellular Ca2+ concentrations is also required for efficient CTL and NK cell function and thus for killing their targets, in this case, cancer cells. Here, we review the data on the Ca2+-dependent killing of cancer cells by CTL and NK cells. In addition, we discuss emerging ideas and present a model how Ca2+ may be used by CTL and NK cells to optimize their cancer cell killing efficiency. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: 12th European Symposium on Calcium.