Previous studies in adult myocytes isolated from rat hearts 3 wk after myocardial infarction (MI) demonstrated abnormal contractility and intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) homeostasis and decreased sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA2) expression and activity, but sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) leak was unchanged. In the present study, we investigated whether SERCA2 overex...

Cl- efflux induces depolarization and contraction of smooth muscle cells. This study was undertaken to explore the role of Cl- channels in endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced contraction in rabbit basilar artery. Male New Zealand White rabbits (n = 26), weighing 1.8-2.5 kg, were euthanized by an overdose of pentobarbital. The basilar arteries were removed for isometric tension recording. ET-1 produced ...

Berinde [V. Berinde, Approximating fixed points of weak contractions using the Picard iteration, Nonlinear Anal. Forum {bf 9} (2004), 43-53] introduced almost contraction mappings and proved Banach contraction principle for such mappings. The aim of this paper is to introduce the notion of multivalued almost $Theta$- contraction mappings andto prove some best proximity point results for t...

A decrease in bronchial diameter is designated as bronchoconstriction (BC) and impedes the flow of air through the airway. Asthma is characterized by inflammation of the airways, reversible BC and nonspecific hyperreactivity. These last two symptoms are dependent on airway smooth muscle. Stimuli that trigger contraction can be characterized as chemical (neurotransmitters, cytokines and terpenoi...

Introduction: It was shown in a previous study, that MCPIP, a cilostamide derivative, increased atrial contraction force without changing contraction rate. To improve this property, two new derivatives of cilostamide were synthesized and their effects on PDE3 activity and isolated rat atria contraction were investigated. Methods: The inhibitory effect of each compound on PDE3 enzyme was dete...

This article is an attempt to survey the contraction and cancellation of the Reuter’s agreement as a one-sided approach and from special perspective, by using minimalistic ideology and with emphasis on multi-sided and various reasons and factors effective in the process of this contract.  On the basis of this research, in this contraction, different factors came together and augmented one anoth...

Oxidative stress and calcium (Ca(2+))/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) both play important roles in the pathogenesis of cardiac disease. Although the pathophysiological relevance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and CaMKII has been appreciated for some time, recent work has shown that ROS can directly oxidize CaMKII, leading to its persistent activity and an increase of the...

A rise in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) is an important stimulus for cell contraction, migration, and proliferation. Depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores opens store-operated Ca2+ channels (SOC) and causes Ca2+ entry. Transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channels that are permeable to Na+ and Ca2+ are believed to form functional ...

The emerging paradigm for Na(+) current in heart failure (HF) is that its transient component (I(NaT)) responsible for the action potential (AP) upstroke is decreased, whereas the late component (I(NaL)) involved in AP plateau is augmented. Here we tested whether Na(v)β(1)- and Na(v)β(2)-subunits can modulate I(NaL) parameters in normal and failing ventricular cardiomyocytes (VCMs). Chronic HF ...

muscle fatigue assessment has been the basis of numerous studies, specifically, in neuromuscular rehabilitation and the applications of fessystems. various emgbased techniques, in time and frequency domains, have been investigatedover years for the detection and evaluationof this phenomenon. the main objective of this study has beento evaluate the efficiency of applying a number of techniques w...