Recently, we demonstrated that mechanical stress results in rapid phosphorylation or activation of platelet-derived growth factor receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) followed by activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and AP-1 transcription factors (Hu, Y., Bock, G., Wick, G., and Xu, Q. (1998) FASEB J. 12, 1135-1142). Herein, we provide evidence that VSMC response...

BACKGROUND Clinically, it is well known that injury of mandibular nerve fiber induces persistent ectopic pain which can spread to a wide area of the orofacial region innervated by the uninjured trigeminal nerve branches. However, the exact mechanism of such persistent ectopic orofacial pain is not still known. The present study was undertaken to determine the role of connexin 43 in the trigemin...

Physical forces play important roles in regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and death by activating intracellular signal transduction pathways. How cells sense mechanical stimulation, however, is largely unknown. Most studies focus on cellular membrane proteins such as ion channels, integrins, and receptors for growth factors as mechanosensory units. Here we show that mechanical str...

Signal transduction pathways activated by chemoattractants have been extensively studied, but little is known about the events mediating responses to mechanical stimuli. We discovered that acute mechanical perturbation of cells triggered transient activation of all tested components of the chemotactic signal transduction network, as well as actin polymerization. Similarly to chemoattractants, t...

The ex vivo effects of passive mechanical stretch on the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathways in skeletal muscles from normal and mdx mouse, a model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), were investigated. The NF-kappaB/DNA binding activity of the diaphragm muscle was increased by the application of axial mechanical stretch in a time-dependent manner. The increased activatio...

Background Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can be used to create maps of left ventricular (LV) mechanical activation delay by analyzing time-dependent radial motion of the myocardium. Local electrograms (EGM) can be obtained during the CRT procedure to measure local electrical activation delay in the LV myocardium. Preoperative MRI assessment of regional dyssynchrony would be useful to guide C...

Mechanical tension is a critical determinant of cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, migration, and development. Integrins have been implicated in sensing force but little is known about how forces are transduced to biochemical signals. We now show that mechanical strain stimulates conformational activation of integrin alphavbeta3 in NIH3T3 cells. Integrin activation is mediated by phosphoi...

Background Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) benefits selected heart failure patients; however, CRT has a nonresponse rate of approximately 30-40%. Important factors that contribute to lead placement decisions and overall CRT success include determination of mechanical dyssynchrony, presence and location of scar, and the identification of late-activated segments. Recent imaging studies ha...

The intensification of leaching of gold from a waste using mechanical activation (milling in water) and mechanochemical activation (milling in thiourea solution) were studied as the pretreatment steps. The leaching of “as-received“ sample in an acid thiourea solution resulted in 78 % Au dissolution, after mechanical activation 98 % and mechanochemical activation up to 99 % of the gold was leach...

BACKGROUND In the present study, we examined spinal glial cell activation as a central nervous system mechanism of widespread mechanical hyperalgesia in rats that experienced chronic post-cast pain (CPCP) 2 weeks after cast immobilization. Activated spinal microglia and astrocytes were investigated immunohistologically in lumbar and coccygeal spinal cord segments 1 day, 5 weeks, and 13 weeks fo...