atp-sensitive potassium (katp) channel openers have a relaxation effect due to the lower cellular membrane potential and inhibit calcium influx. there has been considerable interest in exploring katp channel openers in the treatment of various diseases such as cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and urinary system disease and premature labor. the purpose of this study was to synthesize 3,3,6,6-tet...

Cardiac hypertrophy is a compensatory mechanism that occurs in conjunction with cardiovascular diseases. Although hypertrophy of the myocardium provides certain benefits during the early stages of cardiovascular disease, prolonged hypertrophy is potentially harmful to the heart and can result in arrhythmia and heart failure. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an ATP‑sensitive K+ (...

Vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells, endothelial cells (EC), and pericytes that form the walls of vessels in the microcirculation express a diverse array of ion channels that play an important role in the function of these cells and the microcirculation in both health and disease. This brief review focuses on the K+ channels expressed in smooth muscle and endothelial cells in arterioles. Microva...

OBJECTIVES We sought to define effects of glibenclamide, a sulfonylurea known to block ATP-dependent potassium (KATP) channels, and Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an L-arginine analog known to block nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, on coronary vascular responsiveness to adenosine. BACKGROUND The role of adenosine in coronary flow regulation becomes increasingly important when KATP...

The ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel is composed of a sulfonylurea receptor (SUR) and a pore-forming subunit, Kir6.2. SUR is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein with two nucleotide-binding domains (NBD1 and NBD2). Intracellular ATP inhibits KATP channels through Kir6.2 and activates them through NBDs. However, it is still unknown how ATP-bound NBDs activate KATP channels. A prokaryotic ABC pro...

Studies were performed to assess whether ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channels on rabbit preglomerular vessels can influence afferent arteriolar (AA) tone. K+ channels with a slope conductance of 258 +/- 13 (n = 7) pS and pronounced voltage dependence were demonstrated in excised patches from vascular smooth muscle cells of microdissected preglomerular segments. Channel activity was markedly reduced...

Acetylcholine released from cholinergic nerves is involved in heat loss responses of cutaneous vasodilation and sweating. K(+) channels are thought to play a role in regulating cholinergic cutaneous vasodilation and sweating, though which K(+) channels are involved in their regulation remains unclear. We evaluated the hypotheses that 1) Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (KCa), ATP-sensitive K(+) (KATP), an...

Although it is well established that ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and pharmacological preconditioning (PPC) protect cardiac myocytes against reversible and irreversible injury and the genesis of cardiac arrhythmias1 in all animal species and humans, the effect of IPC and PPC on endothelial dysfunction has been less thoroughly studied. In this regard, the first article to clearly establish tha...

Identified over a dozen years ago in the brain and pancreatic islet, βIV-spectrin is critical for the local organization of protein complexes throughout the nervous system. βIV-Spectrin targets ion channels and adapter proteins to axon initial segments and nodes of Ranvier in neurons, and βIV-spectrin dysfunction underlies ataxia and early death in mice. Despite advances in βIV-spectrin researc...

A variety of direct and indirect techniques have revealed the existence of ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels in the inner membranes of mitochondria. The molecular identity of these mitochondrial KATP (mitoKATP) channels remains unclear. We used a pharmacological approach to distinguish mitoKATP channels from classical, molecularly defined cardiac sarcolemmal KATP (surfaceKATP) channels en...