Smooth muscle cells of the frog iris sphincter contain rhodopsin and contract in response to light. The mechanism of light-evoked contraction was studied with particular attention paid to the role of calcium. The contractile proteins of the sphincter smooth muscle cell can be activated by an increase in intracellular calcium. Light-evoked contraction, however, is not accompanied by a measurable...

Phospholemman (PLM), a member of the FXYD family of regulators of ion transport, is a major sarcolemmal substrate for protein kinases A and C in cardiac and skeletal muscle. In the heart, PLM co-localizes and co-immunoprecipitates with Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase, Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger, and L-type Ca(2+) channel. Functionally, when phosphorylated at serine(68), PLM stimulates Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase but inhib...

We tested hypotheses concerning the muscarinic receptor subtype and the involvement of L-type Ca current (ICa) in the stimulation of contractions by carbachol (CCh) in single guinea pig ventricular myocytes. When superfused with Tyrode's solution (36 degrees C, 5.4 mM [Ca++]o) and stimulated at 0.2 Hz, CCh (EC50 approximately 18 microM) increased the early component of isotonic contractions by ...

Increases in extracellular K(+) concentrations reduced the twitch force amplitude of heart muscle from the freshwater turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Adrenaline augmented twitch force amplitude and reduced the relative influence of [K(+)]. In the absence of adrenaline, high [K(+)] had less effect in reducing twitch force in turtle than in trout, where...

Voltage-gated sodium (Na(v)) and calcium (Ca(v)) channels play important roles in physiological processes, including neuronal and cardiac pacemaker activity, vascular smooth muscle contraction, and nociception. They are thought to share a common ancestry, and, in particular, T-type calcium (T-type) channels share structural similarities with Na(v) channels, both with regard to membrane topology...

This paper is the third in a series of reviews published in this issue resulting from the University of California Davis Cardiovascular Symposium 2014: Systems approach to understanding cardiac excitation-contraction coupling and arrhythmias: Na(+) channel and Na(+) transport. The goal of the symposium was to bring together experts in the field to discuss points of consensus and controversy on ...

Hove-Madsen, Leif, Anna Llach, Glen F. Tibbits, and Lluis Tort. Triggering of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2 release and contraction by reverse mode Na /Ca2 exchange in trout atrial myocytes. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 284: R1330–R1339, 2003. First published January 16, 2003; 10.1152/ajpregu.00404.2002.—Whole cell patch clamp and intracellular Ca2 transients in trout atrial cardiomyocyt...

The inotropic actions of isoproterenol in cat papillary muscles or trabeculae bathed in a salt solution containing 4 mM KCl were compared to those in similar muscles bathed in a salt solution containing 22 mM KC1. Although isoproterenol evoked the same increase in force of contraction in both groups of muscles, the time course of contraction differed markedly. In muscles bathed in 4 mM KC1, iso...

The inotropic actions of isoproterenol in cat papillary muscles or trabeculae bathed in a salt solution containing 4 mM KCl were compared to those in similar muscles bathed in a salt solution containing 22 mM KCl. Although isoproterenol evoked the same increase in force of contraction in both groups of muscles, the time course of contraction differed markedly. In muscles bathed in 4 mM KCl, iso...

The uptake of circulating macromolecules by the arterial intima is thought to be a key step in atherogenesis. Such transport is dominantly advective, so elucidating the mechanisms of water transport is important. The relation between vasoactive agents and water transport in the arterial wall is incompletely understood. Here we applied our recently-developed combination of computational and expe...