Vascular smooth muscle has the ability to exist in a state of maintained partial constriction. This state of partial activation is initiated and/or maintained by the mechanical effects of distending pressure acting on the vascular wall. The intrinsic ability of vascular smooth muscle to respond to these mechanical forces is referred to as the myogenic mechanism. Within the past decade the signa...

Photolysis of caged calcium (Nitr5, Calbiochem®) can be used to studycalcium dependent processes such as excitation-contraction coupling andmuscular mechanics. Expensive high energy light sources are routinely used forUV light exposure; this study describes an alternative low cost Xenon flash unitconstmcted in our laboratOlY. A 300 J short arc Xenon flash lamp (Heimarl1l®)wa...

The inhibition of myosin phosphatase evokes smooth muscle contraction in the absence of Ca(2+), yet the underlying mechanisms are not understood. To this end, we have cloned smooth muscle zipper-interacting protein (ZIP) kinase cDNA. ZIP kinase is present in various smooth muscle tissues including arteries. Triton X-100 skinning did not diminish ZIP kinase content, suggesting that ZIP kinase as...

The inhibition of myosin phosphatase evokes smooth muscle contraction in the absence of Ca, yet the underlying mechanisms are not understood. To this end, we have cloned smooth muscle zipper-interacting protein (ZIP) kinase cDNA. ZIP kinase is present in various smooth muscle tissues including arteries. Triton X-100 skinning did not diminish ZIP kinase content, suggesting that ZIP kinase associ...