Two recent studies report how a calcium-sensing protein called STIM1 signals that it's time to initiate calcium retrieval and then relays that message to its partner, the calcium channel ORAI.

About two years ago, Gill and his colleagues noticed that in addition to activating the Orai channel to allow calcium to trickle back into the cell stores, STIM1 was also inhibiting the function ...

Targeting this protein - the ORAI1 calcium channel ... Future research: blocking ORAI. Several FDA-approved drugs block the ORAI1 calcium channel, but they have not yet been tested in oral cancer.