July 2022

The Calcium / Virus Connection

The Calcium / Virus Connection Viruses are known to use calcium and cellular calcium-binding proteins to promote their entry into cells, enhance viral replication and gene expression among other actions. Calcium is a universal cellular messenger. Viruses use this action for their prolific replication throughout the body. The relationship between viruses and calcium falls into three main categories; 1) viral proteins directly impact calcium homeostasis due to altering membrane permeability or affecting the...