The structural homeostasis of the cochlear hair cell membrane is critical for all aspects of sensory transduction, but the regulation of its maintenance is not well understood. In this report, we analyzed the cochlear hair cells of mice with specific deletion of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) in inner hair cells. MLCK-deficient mice showed impaired hearing, with a 5- to 14-dB rise in the audi...

Many neurohormones alter the force of cardiac contraction by variations in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. alpha 1-Adrenergic and muscarinic stimulations, rather, modify the sensitivity of contractile proteins to Ca(2+)-calmodulin-myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) complex induces a large increase in Ca2+ sensitivity (0.14 pCa unit) of these easily accessible myofilaments. This increase is ...

Recent studies have implicated a pathogenic role for matrix metalloproteinases 9 (MMP-9) in inflammatory bowel disease. Although loss of epithelial barrier function has been shown to be a key pathogenic factor for the development of intestinal inflammation, the role of MMP-9 in intestinal barrier function remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of MMP-9 in intestinal ...

O-GlcNAcylation is a modification that alters the function of numerous proteins. We hypothesized that augmented O-GlcNAcylation levels enhance myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and reduce myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) activity, leading to increased vascular contractile responsiveness. The vascular responses were measured by isometric force displacement. Thoracic aorta and vascular smooth...

Contraction of smooth muscle depends on the balance of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) activities. Because MLCK activation depends on the activation of calmodulin, which requires a high Ca(2+) concentration, phosphatase inhibition has been invoked to explain contraction at low cytosolic Ca(2+) levels. The link between activation of the Ca(2+)-independe...

Wang J, Weigand L, Foxson J, Shimoda LA, Sylvester JT. Ca signaling in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction: effects of myosin light chain and Rho kinase antagonists. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 293: L674–L685, 2007. First published June 15, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00141.2007.—Antagonists of myosin light chain (MLC) kinase (MLCK) and Rho kinase (ROK) are thought to inhibit hypoxic pulmon...

Telokin, an abundant gizzard protein, inhibited phosphorylation of regulatory light chain when filamentous myosin was used as the substrate but no inhibition was observed with myosin subfragment 1. At physiological telokin-to-myosin molar ratio (1:1), the inhibition amounted to a 3.5-fold reduction in the initial phosphorylation rate whereas at high molar excess of telokin over myosin, we obser...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to observe the contraction role of RELMα in rat aortic smooth muscle cells and explore its mechanism. METHODS Rat aortas smooth muscle cells were cultivated using tissue explants method. They were divided into 5 groups. A: Control group; B: 1×10(-7) mol/L ANGII group; C: 1×10(-8) mol/L RELMα group; D: 2×10(-8) mol/L RELMα group; E: 4×10(-8) mol/L RELMα group. The tho...

A key function of the endothelium is to serve as a regulated barrier between tissue compartments. We have previously shown that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plays a crucial role in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute kidney injury, in part by causing injury to the renal endothelium through its receptor TNFR1. Here, we report that TNF increased permeability to albumin in primary culture mouse ...

Disruption of the intestinal epithelial barrier occurs in many intestinal diseases, but neither the mechanisms nor the contribution of barrier dysfunction to disease pathogenesis have been defined. We utilized a murine model of T cell-mediated acute diarrhea to investigate the role of the epithelial barrier in diarrheal disease. We show that epithelial barrier dysfunction is required for the de...