The functions of gamma-sarcoglycan (gammaSG) in normal myotubes are largely unknown, however gammaSG is known to assemble into a key membrane complex with dystroglycan and its deficiency is one known cause of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Previous findings of apoptosis from gammaSG-deficient mice are extended here to cell culture where apoptosis is seen to increase more than tenfold in gammaS...

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a specific disease process distinct from coronary artery disease and hypertension. The disease features cardiac remodeling stimulated by hyperglycemia of the left ventricle wall and disrupts contractile functions. Cardiac mast cells may be activated by metabolic byproducts resulted from hyperglycermia and then participate in the remodeling process by releasing a multi...

Numerical simulations and linear stability analyses of expanding cellular monolayers suggest cell–substrate friction is responsible for fingers at the edge. A critical contractile stress characterises wetting-dewetting; dewetting inhibits fingering.

Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (RLC) triggers contraction in smooth muscle myocytes. Dephosphorylation of phosphorylated RLC (pRLC) is mediated by myosin RLC phosphatase (MLCP), which is negatively regulated by rho-associated kinase (ROK). We have compared basal and stimulated concentrations of pRLC in myocytes from human coronary artery (hVM), which has a tonic contractile pa...

Gericke A, Martinka P, Nazarenko I, Persson PB, Patzak A. Impact of 1-adrenoceptor expression on contractile properties of vascular smooth muscle cells. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 293: R1215–R1221, 2007. First published June 6, 2007; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00076.2007.—Low-frequency blood pressure oscillations (Mayer waves) are discussed as a marker for sympathetic modulation of vascula...

Tetraspanins (Tsps) are membrane proteins that are widely expressed in eukaryotic organisms. Only recently, Tsps have started to acquire relevance as potential new drug targets as they contribute, via protein-protein interactions, to numerous pathophysiological processes including infectious diseases and cancer. However, due to a high number of isoforms and functional redundancy, knowledge on s...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by the absence of the protein dystrophin. Dystrophin's function is not known, but its cellular location and associations with both the force-generating contractile core and membrane-spanning entities suggest a role in mechanically coupling force from its intracellular origins to the fiber membrane and beyond. We report here the presence of destructive contr...

EPO (erythropoietin) has recently been shown to have protective actions upon the myocardium; however, the direct effects of EPO upon cardiac contractile and secretory functions are unknown and the signalling mechanisms are not well defined. In the present study, we provide the first evidence of direct cardiac contractile actions of EPO. In isolated perfused Sprague-Dawley rat hearts, a 30 min i...

Among several functions attributed to blood platelets is a contractile one which is believed to play a significant role in hemostasis. In addition, platelets are known to take up a large variety of substances which are transported interiorly by means of surface-connected channels (1) . Since propulsion of substances through this canalicular system is known to be energy dependent (13, 14), it ha...

Serum response factor (SRF) is a highly conserved and widely expressed, single copy transcription factor that theoretically binds up to 1,216 permutations of a 10-base pair cis element known as the CArG box. SRF-binding sites were defined initially in growth-related genes. Gene inactivation or knockdown studies in species ranging from unicellular eukaryotes to mice have consistently shown loss ...