Ca 2؉ signals, produced by Ca 2؉ release from cellular stores, switch metabolic responses inside cells. In muscle, Ca 2؉ sparks locally exhibit the rapid start and termination of the cell-wide signal. By imaging Ca 2؉ inside the store using shifted excitation and emission ratioing of fluorescence, a surprising observation was made: Depletion during sparks or voltage-induced cell-wide release occurs too late, continuing to progress even after the Ca 2؉ release channels have closed. This finding indicates that Ca 2؉ is released from a ''proximate'' compartment functionally in between store lumen and cytosol. The presence of a proximate compartment also explains a paradoxical surge in intrastore Ca 2؉ , which was recorded upon stimulation of prolonged, cell-wide Ca 2؉ release. An intrastore surge upon induction of Ca 2؉ release was first reported in subcellular store fractions, where its source was traced to the store buffer, calsequestrin. The present results update the evolving concept, largely due to N. Ikemoto and C. Kang, of calsequestrin as a dynamic store. Given the strategic location and reduction of dimensionality of Ca 2؉ -adsorbing linear polymers of calsequestrin, they could deliver Ca 2؉ to the open release channels more efficiently than the luminal store solution, thus constituting the proximate compartment. When store depletion becomes widespread, the polymers would collapse to increase store [Ca 2؉ ] and sustain the concentration gradient that drives release flux.calcium signaling ͉ calcium sparks ͉ excitation-contraction coupling ͉ sarcoplasmic reticulum ͉ skeletal muscle R apid changes in intracellular cytosolic [Ca 2ϩ ] are required for signaling functions in many cell types (1). These changes are achieved via Ca 2ϩ release through channels, ryanodine receptors (RyRs), which must open and close quickly. To increase its speed, gating of RyRs relies on effects of the permeant ion, including channel opening by elevated cytosolic [Ca 2ϩ ] (2). In muscle, the desirable fast kinetic features are already present in its elementary signaling events, Ca 2ϩ sparks (3), which involve the nearly simultaneous opening (4) of a number of channels (5), followed by their synchronized closing (4). Thus, this gating does not follow the usual Markovian rules for channels that evolve independently but requires timekeeping and synchronization (6). In cardiac muscle, depletion of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca 2ϩ is the likely timer of channel closing, and the substantial depletion that follows the cardiac beat (7) was imaged as ''blinks'' associated with Ca 2ϩ sparks (8). The sensor that translates depletion into channel closing appears to be the main intra-SR buffer, calsequestrin (CSQ) (9).By contrast, in skeletal muscle, depletion associated with a twitch is only 8-15% (10). This low rate of depletion reflects a SR with larger terminal cisternae containing higher concentrations of a CSQ of greater binding capacity, thus constituting a much greater calcium reservoir. Despite the greater store, sparks of skeletal mus...