Calcification is a regulated physiological process occurring in bones and teeth. However, calcification is commonly found in soft tissues in association with aging and in a variety of diseases. Over the last two decades, it has emerged that calcification occurring in diseased arteries is not simply an inevitable build-up of insoluble precipitates of calcium phosphate. In some cases, it is an active process in which transcription factors drive conversion of vascular cells to an osteoblast or chondrocyte-like phenotype, with the subsequent production of mineralizing "matrix vesicles." Early studies of bone and cartilage calcification suggested roles for cellular calcium signaling in several of the processes involved in the regulation of bone calcification. Similarly, calcium signaling has recently been highlighted as an important component in the mechanisms regulating pathological calcification. The emerging hypothesis is that ectopic/pathological calcification occurs in tissues in which there is an imbalance in the regulatory mechanisms that actively prevent calcification. This review highlights the various ways that calcium signaling regulates tissue calcification, with a particular focus on pathological vascular calcification.

中文翻译：

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钙信号和组织钙化。

钙化是发生在骨骼和牙齿中的受调节的生理过程。然而，钙化通常存在于与衰老和各种疾病相关的软组织中。在过去的 20 年里，已经发现在患病动脉中发生的钙化不仅仅是磷酸钙不溶性沉淀物的不可避免的积累。在某些情况下，这是一个活跃的过程，其中转录因子驱动血管细胞转化为成骨细胞或软骨细胞样表型，随后产生矿化“基质囊泡”。骨骼和软骨钙化的早期研究表明细胞钙信号在参与骨钙化调节的几个过程中发挥作用。相似地，钙信号最近被强调为调节病理性钙化机制的重要组成部分。新出现的假设是异位/病理性钙化发生在积极防止钙化的调节机制失衡的组织中。这篇综述强调了钙信号调节组织钙化的各种方式，特别关注病理性血管钙化。