Calreticulin is a multifunctional soluble protein that binds Ca2+ ions (a second messenger in signal transduction), rendering it inactive. The Ca2+ is bound with low affinity, but high capacity, and can be released on a signal (see inositol trisphosphate). Calreticulin is located in storage compartments associated with the endoplasmic reticulum and is considered an ER resident protein. Calreticulin also binds to misfolded proteins and prevents them from being exported from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus.