Regulation of the L-type calcium channel

The voltage-operated L-type calcium channel is regulated by protein phosphorylation and G proteins in a variety of tissues and eukaryotes including non-excitable cells. The 165 kDa protein of the dihydropyridine receptor from rabbit skeletal muscle contains all the regulatory sites of an L-type calcium channel and the calcium conducting unit. Franz Hofmann and colleagues suggest that the differences in the regulation observed in various tissues is caused by the interaction of the large conducting protein with different regulatory proteins of approximately 55 kDa.