Role of calcium in toxic and programmed cell death.

An uncontrolled and sustained increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration has been implicated as an early event in the development of anoxic or toxic cell injury. More recently it has become clear that an elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ is also involved in programmed cell death in the immune system. Here, we review some of our recent studies and provide further evidence for the role of Ca2+ in cell killing.