Mitochondria are dynamic organelles and continuously undergo fission and fusion processes. Mitochondrial fission is involved in multiple physiological or pathological processes, but the role of mitochondrial fission of smooth muscle cells in artery constriction is unknown. The role of mitochondrial fission of smooth muscle cells in arterial function was investigated by measuring the tension of ...

Nigella sativa (N. sativa) is a spice plant which has been traditionally used for culinary and medicinal purposes. Different therapeutic properties including the beneficial effects on asthma and dyspnea, digestive and gynecology disorders have been described for the seeds of N. sativa. There is evidence of the relaxant effects of this plant and some of its constituents on different types of smo...

Smooth muscle myosin heavy chains (MHCs) exist in multiple isoforms. Rabbit smooth muscles contain at least three types of MHC isoforms: SM1 (204 kD), SM2 (200 kD), and SMemb (200 kD). SM1 and SM2 are specific to smooth muscles, but SMemb is a nonmuscle-type MHC abundantly expressed in the embryonic aorta. We recently reported that these three MHC isoforms are differentially expressed in rabbit...

In this study, we compared the potencies of diosgenin, a plant-derived sapogenin structurally similar to estrogen and progesterone, on vascular smooth muscle functions ranging from contraction and migration to apoptosis. The effects of diosgenin on vascular smooth muscle cell viability and migration were measured using a primary mouse aortic smooth muscle cell culture. The effects of diosgenin ...

We show that cells of the dorsal aorta, an early blood vessel, and of the myotome, the first skeletal muscle to form within the somite, derive from a common progenitor in the mouse embryo. This conclusion is based on a retrospective clonal analysis, using a nlaacZ reporter targeted to the alpha-cardiac actin gene. A rare intragenic recombination event results in a functional nlacZ sequence, giv...

Ca is a crucial factor in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. Store-operated Ca entry (SOCE) is one pathway that mediates Ca influx and smooth muscle contraction. Vessel contraction function usually alters with aging to cause severe vascular-related diseases. However, the underlying mechanism is still not fully understood. Here, we assessed intracellular Ca and vessel tension and found...

ketotifen is a benzocycloheptathiophene with a range of pharmacological activities. the present study was carried out to evaluate the action of ketotifen on isolated rat bladder contractions induced by kci and acetylcholine, compared with the effects of other drugs. ketotifen (5 µm) reduced the response to acetylcholine on rat isolated bladder without altering the maximum response and shifted t...

background: the vascular function of angiotensin ii-type-2 receptors in adults is controversial. we sought their location and function in mouse aortic rings at young and old mice. materials and methods: male c57bl mice (aged 4 and 14 months) were killed by co2. the descending thoracic aorta was cleaned and dissected into rings. aortic rings were mounted in krebs’ solution at 37 °c and then setu...

Caldesmon, a major actinand calmodulin-binding protein, has been identified in diverse bovine tissues, including smooth and striated muscles and various nonmuscle tissues, by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of tissue homogenates and immunoblotting using rabbit anti-chicken gizzard caldesmon. Caldesmon was purified from vascular smooth muscle (bovine aorta) by heat treatment of a t...

This study was designed to investigate the mediator(s) of endothelium-dependent arterial constrictor responses evoked by arachidonic acid in vitro. A segment of descending rabbit thoracic aorta was isolated and perfused (1-2 ml/min) with oxygenated Krebs' bicarbonate buffer. Changes in the vascular smooth muscle-contracting activity of the aortic effluent were detected by superfusion bioassay u...