Recent studies have shown that afferent signals originating from the pharynx inhibit progression of primary esophageal peristalsis. Our aim was to further elucidate the effect of esophageal and pharyngeal afferent stimulation on primary and secondary esophageal peristalsis. We studied the effect of esophageal air distension and pharyngeal water stimulation on progression of primary and secondar...

6 Valveless, tubular pumps are widespread in the animal kingdom, but the mechanism by which these pumps generate fluid flow are often in dispute. Where the pumping mechanism of many organs was once described as peristalsis, other mechanisms, such as dynamic suction pumping, have been suggested as possible alternative mechanisms. Peristalsis is often evaluated using criteria established in a tec...

To explore the use of Caenorhabditis elegans and related nematodes for studying behavioral evolution, we conducted a comparative study of pharyngeal behaviors and neuronal regulation in free-living soil nematodes. The pharynx is divided into three parts: corpus, isthmus and terminal bulb, and pharyngeal behaviors consist of stereotyped patterns of two motions: pumping and peristalsis. Based on ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Endothelins are expressed in many enteric neurons of the gut. Because activation of endothelin ET(A) and ET(B) receptors is known to alter intestinal muscle activity, the effect of ET(A) and ET(B) receptor agonists and antagonists on propulsive peristalsis was examined. METHODS Repetitive peristalsis in fluid-perfused segments of the guinea pig isolated small intestine was e...

We describe an efficient method for transporting and rearranging mesoscopic objects in three dimensions using short repetitive sequences of holographic optical trapping patterns. Material transport in this process is analogous to peristaltic pumping, with the configurations of optical traps mimicking the states of a physical peristaltic pump. Optical peristalsis can transport large numbers of s...

Prenatal airway smooth muscle (ASM) peristalsis appears coupled to lung growth. Moreover, ASM progenitors produce fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10) for lung morphogenesis. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is associated with lung hypoplasia, FGF-10 deficiency, and postnatal ASM dysfunction. We hypothesized ASM dysfunction emerges in tandem with, and may contribute toward, the primordial ...

To determine the pathogenesis of esophageal dysfunction in scleroderma and Raynaud's disease, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) was tested with: (a) methacholine acting directly at the cholinergic receptor on the muscle; (b) edrophonium, a cholinesterase inhibitor, enhancing the effect of released acetylcholine; and (c) gastrin I, acting through the release of acetylcholine. 10 patients with...

Peristalsis by actively generated waves of muscle contraction is one the most fundamental ways producing motion in living systems. We show that peristalsis can be modeled a train rectangular-shaped solitary localized activity propagating through otherwise passive matter. Our analysis based on Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) type discrete model accounting for active stresses and we reveal existence this ...