Large conductance, Ca(2+)-activated K channel proteins are involved in a wide range of physiological activities, so there is considerable interest in the pharmacology of large conductance calcium-activated K (BK) channels. One potent activator of BK channels is mallotoxin (MTX), which produces a very large hyperpolarizing shift of the voltage gating of heterologously expressed BK channels and c...

We performed a case-control study to determine the association of BK plasma viremia with hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. Thirty cases of HC (14 of which occurred after platelet engraftment with documented BK viruria [BK-HC]) were compared with matched controls. Weekly plasma samples were tested for BK virus DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). BK ...

Large conductance, calcium- and voltage-activated potassium (BK(Ca)) channels are important modulators of pulmonary vascular smooth muscle membrane potential, and phosphorylation of BK(Ca) channels by protein kinases regulates pulmonary arterial smooth muscle function. However, little is known about the effect of phosphorylating specific channel subunits on BK(Ca) channel activity. The present ...

We determined the contribution of vascular large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) and L-type Ca2+ channel dysregulation to exaggerated mortality in cecal ligation/puncture (CLP)-induced septic BK channel β1-subunit knockout (BK β1-KO, smooth muscle specific) mice. CLP-induced hemodynamic changes and mortality were assessed over 7 days in wild-type (WT) and BK β1-KO mice that were either untre...

Prostanoids may be involved in bradykinin (BK)-induced bronchoconstriction in asthma. We investigated whether cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 induction was involved in prostaglandin (PG) E2 release by BK in cultured human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells and analyzed the BK receptor subtypes responsible. BK stimulated PGE2release, COX activity, and COX-2 induction in a concentration- and time-dependent ...

The present study was designed to investigate whether large conductance Ca2+ -activated K+ (BK) channels were regulated by epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase. BK current and channel tyrosine phosphorylation level were measured in BK-HEK 293 cells expressing both functional α-subunits and the auxiliary β1-subunits using electrophysiology, immunoprecipitation and Wester...

Elevated formation of bradykinin (BK) and Lys-BK or kallidin (KD) and their carboxypeptidase metabolites desArg(9)BK and desArg(10)KD is evident at sites of inflammation. Moreover, B2 receptors (B2R), which mediate the action of BK and KD, participates in the acute stage of the inflammatory and pain response, whereas B1 receptors (B1R), through which desArg(9)BK and desArg(10)KD act, partake in...

Bradykinin (BK) is released in the brain during injury and inflammation. Activation of endothelial BK receptors produces acute dilatation of cerebral arterioles that is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS can also modulate gene expression, including expression of the inducible isoform of cyclooxygenase (COX-2). We hypothesized that exposure of the brain to BK would produce acute dila...

The modulatory role of large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BK) channels in the nervous system has been extensively studied. In the retina, it has been shown that BK channels play a pivotal role in modulating feedback from A17 amacrine cells to rod bipolar cells (RBCs). Here, we used electroretinography to examine the functional role of BK channels for rod and cone vision in the retina in v...

BACKGROUND The vasoactive peptide bradykinin (BK) acts as a potent growth factor for normal kidney cells, but there have been few studies on the role of BK in renal cell carcinomas. PURPOSE In this study, we tested the hypothesis that BK also acts as a mitogen in kidney carcinomas, and explored the effects of BK in human renal carcinoma A498 cells. METHODS The presence of mRNAs for BK B(1) ...