How to make a good egg! The need for remodeling of oocyte Ca2+ signaling to mediate the egg-to-embryo transition

The egg-to-embryo transition marks the initiation of multicellular organismal development and is mediated by a specialized Ca2+ transient at fertilization. This explosive Ca2+ signal has captured the interest and imagination of scientists for many decades, given its cataclysmic nature and necessity for the egg-to-embryo transition. Learning how the egg acquires the competency to generate this Ca2+ transient at fertilization is essential to our understanding of the mechanisms controlling egg and the transition to embryogenesis. In this review we discuss our current knowledge of how Ca2+ signaling pathways remodel during oocyte maturation in preparation for fertilization with a special emphasis on the frog oocyte as additional reviews in this issue will touch on this in other species. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.