The pancreatic acinar cell continues to be a very useful object for Ca²⁺ signalling studies due to its highly polarized structure and the relative ease of isolation. High-resolution confocal and two-photon studies of the dynamics of [Ca²⁺] in the cytosol, all major organelles and the immediate extracellular environment of these cells have provided a detailed understanding of physiological (Petersen & Tepikin Annu Rev Physiol 70, 273-299, 2008) and pathological (Petersen et al. Cell Calcium 45, 634-642, 2009) Ca²⁺ signalling processes. The most important information will be reviewed together with very recent data about the role of IP3 receptors in pathophysiology (Gerasimenko et al. PNAS 106, 10758-10763, 2009) and the roles of STIM1 and Orai1 in regulating Ca²⁺ entry (Lur et al. Curr Biol 2009 in press).