PURPOSE To study the effect of high glucose concentrations on pericyte contractility. METHODS Bovine retinal capillary pericytes were cultured on silicone rubber sheets, which could be seen to wrinkle when a cell contracted. Cells were grown in glucose, or mannitol, in concentrations ranging from 5 to 40 mMol. Pericyte contractility was expressed as the percentage of cells wrinkling the silic...

We systematically modified isoproterenol's chemical structure to reduce chronotropic, arrhythmogenic, and vascular side effects. Experiments on dogs showed that the resulting drug, dobutamine, had an inotropic efficacy as great as that of epinephrine due to a direct action on beta1 cardiac receptors. However, unlike epinephrine, dobutamine's effect on alpha and beta2 vascular receptors was slig...

To understand the molecular mechanism of oxidation-induced inhibition of muscle contractility, we have studied the effects of hydrogen peroxide on permeabilized rabbit psoas muscle fibers, focusing on changes in myosin purified from these fibers. Oxidation by 5 mM peroxide decreased fiber contractility (isometric force and shortening velocity) without significant changes in the enzymatic activi...

Caveolin is a principal component of caveolar membranes. In the present study, we utilized a decoy peptide approach to define the degree of involvement of caveolin in PKC-dependent regulation of contractility of differentiated vascular smooth muscle. The primary isoform of caveolin in ferret aorta vascular smooth muscle is caveolin-1. Chemical loading of contractile vascular smooth muscle tissu...

WALLACE, ANDREW G., N. SHELDON SKINNER, JR., AND JERE H. MITCHELL. Hemodynamic determinants of the maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure. Am, J. Physiol. 205 (I) : 30-36. 1963. -The maximal rate of left ventricular pressure development (max. dp/dt) was measured in an arenexic preparation which permitted independent control of stroke volume, heart rate, and aortic pressure. Max. dp/d...

Smooth muscle contraction is a dynamic process driven by acto-myosin interactions that are controlled by multiple regulatory proteins. Our studies have shown that members of the AP-1 transcription factor family control discrete behaviors of smooth muscle cells (SMC) such as growth, migration and fibrosis. However, the role of AP-1 in regulation of smooth muscle contractility is incompletely und...

OBJECTIVES We sought to assess the mechanism and significance of different (201)Tl redistribution patterns after successful primary stenting following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). BACKGROUND The mechanism of (201)Tl reverse redistribution and the impact of different redistribution patterns on the recovery of contractility after successful reperfusion therapy for AMI remain unclear. ME...