CALB1 and neurodegenerative disease: Based on previous reports demonstrating that calbindin-D28K, the large EF-hand family of Ca2+ binding proteins, has neuroprotective effects in several neurodegenerative disease models (43, 44), we determined whether buffering of the CuCl2-induced surge of cytosolic Ca2+ affects the rate of cell death and accompanying impairment in autophagy.