The purpose of the present volume is to give a comprehensive and up-to-date 2 survey of the nature and role of calcium ions (Ca +) in the regulation of cel 2 lular function. Since Ca + has gained in interest over the past years as a cel lular messenger in signal transduction, and since the discovery of its cellular receptor protein, calmodulin, has helped in understanding its mode of action in molecular terms, we felt that an interdisciplinary selection of topics from the calcium field could provide a good source of information for all those in terested in calcium-mediated physiology. The...