We examined the functional role of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+(KCa) channels in the hamster cremasteric microcirculation by intravital videomicroscopy and characterized the single-channel properties of these channels in inside-out patches of membrane from enzymatically isolated cremasteric arteriolar muscle cells. In second-order (39 ± 1 μm, n = 8) and third-order (19 ± 2 μm, n = 8) cre...

Mechanisms that underlie autoregulation in the newborn vasculature are unclear. Here we tested the hypothesis that in newborn porcine cerebral arteries intravascular pressure elevates wall tension, leading to an increase in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and a constriction that is opposed by pressure-induced K+ channel activation. Incremental step (20 mmHg) elevations in intravas...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 4 (TRPV4) and calcium-activated potassium channels (KCa ) mediate osmosensing in many tissues. Both TRPV4 and KCa channels are found in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, an area critical for sympathetic control of cardiovascular and renal function. Here, we have investigated whether TRPV4 channels functional...

The roles of nitric oxide (NO), endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHF), and calcium-activated K+ (KCa) channels in diabetes-associated endothelial dysfunction of small renal arteries are not clear. The present study investigated acetylcholine (ACh)-induced vasorelaxation of renal arcuate arteries from obese Zucker (OZ) rats at different diabetes durations, and the relative contribut...

In developing ciliary ganglion (CG) neurons, movement of functional large-conductance (BK type) Ca(2+)-activated K+ (K(Ca)) channels to the cell surface is stimulated by the endogenous growth factors TGF(beta)1 and beta-neuregulin-1 (NRG1). Here we show that a brief NRG1 treatment (0.5-1.5 h) mobilizes K(Ca) channels in a post-Golgi compartment, but longer treatments (>3.5 h) mobilize K(Ca) cha...

In hypertension, pressure-induced myogenic constriction and impaired endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF)-mediated dilation may contribute to increased vasomotor tone. Myogenic constriction as well as EDHF-mediated dilation may share common signaling mechanisms, and both may control KCa channel activity to set arterial tone. To investigate a potential relation between the 2 mechani...

The mechanism of action of tonically applied choline, the agonist of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), to the spontaneous and evoked release of a neurotransmitter in mouse motor synapses in diaphragm neuromuscular preparations using intracellular microelectrode recordings of miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs) and evoked endplate potentials (EPPs) was studied. Exogenous choline w...

In mammals, 7 distinct genes encoding CK1 isoforms (CK1 alpha, CK1 beta, CK1 gamma1, CK1 gamma2, CK1 gamma3, CK1 delta and CK1 epsilon) are expressed which differ mainly in length and primary structure of the C-terminal non-catalytic domain. Furthermore, CK1 alpha splice variants have been detected in many different organisms including vertebrates and mammals. Alternative splicing leads to the ...

Ca2+ release through ryanodine receptors (RyRs) in the sarcoplasmic reticulum is a key element of excitation-contraction coupling in muscle. In arterial smooth muscle, Ca2+ release through RyRs activates Ca2+-sensitive K+ (KCa) channels to oppose vasoconstriction. Local Ca2+ transients ("Ca2+ sparks"), apparently caused by opening of clustered RyRs, have been observed in smooth and striated mus...

The enzymatic pathway responsible for the production and metabolism of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADP-R) in small bovine coronary arteries was characterized, and the role of cADP-R and ADP-ribose (ADP-R) in the regulation of the activity of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+(KCa) channels was determined in vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) prepared from these vessels. We found that cADP-R and ADP-R ...