BACKGROUND Mechanical dilation of the human ventricle is known to induce arrhythmias, the underlying ionic mechanisms, however, remain to be clarified. METHODS Ventricular myocytes isolated from human, guinea-pig or rat hearts were stretched between the patch electrode and a glass stylus. RESULTS Local stretch prolonged the action potential, depolarized the resting membrane and caused extra...

The extensive dendritic tree of the adult spinal motoneuron generates a powerful persistent inward current (PIC). We investigated how this dendritic PIC influenced conversion of synaptic input to rhythmic firing. A linearly increasing, predominantly excitatory synaptic input was generated in triceps ankle extensor motoneurons by slow stretch (duration: 2-10 s) of the Achilles tendon in the dece...

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) protects various tissues and cells from ischemic insults and is activated by many stimuli including mechanical stretch. Therefore, this study investigated if the activation of AMPK is involved in stretch-induced cardioprotection (SIC). Intraventricular balloon and aorto-caval shunt (ACS) were used to stretch rat hearts ex vivo and in vivo, respectively. Stret...

BACKGROUND Although many therapeutic strategies have been developed clinically, the mortality associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome remains very high. OBJECTIVES In this research, we used a cytomechanical method to elucidate the reason for this. METHODS A549 cells were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 1 or 100 ng/ml) and/or mechanical stretch (5, 15, 30%) in varying fr...

The aims of this study were to examine changes in the distribution of a stretch to the muscle fascicles with changes in contraction intensity in the human triceps surae and to relate fascicle stretch responses to short-latency stretch reflex behavior. Thirteen healthy subjects were seated in an ankle ergometer, and dorsiflexion stretches (8 degrees ; 250 degrees /s) were applied to the triceps ...

The present work was designed to elucidate the involvement of Ca2+-permeable stretch-activated (SA) channels in the orienting response of endothelial cells to uniaxial cyclic stretch. Endothelial cells from human umbilical vein were cultured on an elastic silicone membrane and subjected to uniaxial cyclic stretch (120% in length, 1 Hz). The cells started to change their morphology 15 min after ...