The mechanisms by which nitric oxide (NO) relaxes smooth muscles are unclear. The NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) has been reported to increase the Ca2+ release frequency (Ca2+ sparks) through ryanodine receptors (RyRs) and activate spontaneous transient outward currents (STOCs), resulting in smooth muscle relaxation. Our findings that caffeine relaxes and hyperpolarizes murine gastric fund...

In failing rat hearts, post-transcriptonal inhibition of phospholamban (PLB) expression by AAV9 vector-mediated cardiac delivery of short hairpin RNAs directed against PLB (shPLBr) improves both impaired SERCA2a controlled Ca2+ cycling and contractile dysfunction. Cardiac delivery of shPLB, however, was reported to cause cardiac toxicity in canines. Thus we developed a new AAV vector, scAAV6-am...

Previous studies in transgenic mice and with isolated ryanodine receptors (RyR) have indicated that Ca -calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) can phosphorylate RyR and activate local diastolic sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca release events (Ca sparks) and RyR channel opening. Here we use relatively controlled physiological conditions in saponin-permeabilized wild type (WT) and phosphol...

Although membrane proteins and soluble proteins may achieve their final folded states through different pathways, it has been suggested that the packing inside a membrane protein could maintain a similar fold if the lipid-exposed surface were redesigned for solubility in an aqueous environment. To test this idea, the surface of the transmembrane domain of phospholamban (PLB), a protein that for...

The potential of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in biomedical applications has received significant interest, due to its ability generate reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS). Upon exposure living cells, CAP triggers alterations various cellular components, such as the cell membrane. However, permeation RONS across nitrated oxidized membranes remains understudied. To address this gap, we ...

Phospholamban (PLB) is a 52 amino acid transmembrane protein found in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiac myocytes, where it regulates the transport of calcium ions by SERCA (sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase). This work has shown that the cytoplasmic domain of PLB associates with phospholipid vesicles, possibly with the lipid polar head groups, and, in doing so, undergoes a tran...

Phospholamban (PLB) physically interacts with Ca 2+-ATPase and regulates contractility of the heart. We have studied this interaction using electron microscopy of large two-dimensional co-crystals of Ca 2+-ATPase and the I40A mutant of PLB. Crystallization conditions were derived from those previously used for thin, helical crystals, but the addition of a 10-fold higher concentration of magnesi...

Phospholamban (PLB) physically interacts with Ca(2+)-ATPase and regulates contractility of the heart. We have studied this interaction using electron microscopy of large two-dimensional co-crystals of Ca(2+)-ATPase and the I40A mutant of PLB. Crystallization conditions were derived from those previously used for thin, helical crystals, but the addition of a 10-fold higher concentration of magne...

BACKGROUND In patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pursed-lips breathing (PLB) improves the pulmonary gas exchange and hyperinflation measured by electro-optic coupling. The response to PLB in inspiratory lung function tests is not known. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of PLB on inspiratory parameters. METHODS Thirty-five subject...

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum exhibits high activities of phospholipase and lysophospholipase [Ferber, Munder, Fischer and Gerisch (1970) Eur. J. Biochem. 14, 253-257]. We assayed Dictyostelium lysates to demonstrate the presence of a highly active phospholipase B (PLB) enzyme that removed both fatty-acid chains from phosphatidylcholine and produced the water-soluble glycerophospho...