Implication of Ca2+ in the regulation of replicative life span of budding yeast.

In eukaryotic cells, Ca(2+)-triggered signaling pathways are used to regulate a wide variety of cellular processes. Calcineurin, a highly conserved Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, plays key roles in the regulation of diverse biological processes in organisms ranging from yeast to humans. We isolated a mutant of the SIR3 gene, implicated in the regulation of life span, as a suppressor of the Ca(2+) sensitivity of zds1Δ cells in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.