To explore the possible role for connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) during tooth movement, we evaluated CTGF gene and protein expression in MG-63 cells subjected to cyclic stretch. Cyclic stretch caused a time-dependent increase in CTGF mRNA and protein levels.Inhibition of p38 MAP kinase or ERK activation did not affect cyclic stretch-induced CTGF expression. Specific inhibitors of PI3K su...

External mechanical stretch plays an important role in regulating cellular behaviors through intracellular mechanosensitive and mechanotransductive machineries such as the F-actin cytoskeleton (CSK) structures and focal adhesions (FAs) anchoring the F-actin CSK to the extracellular environment. Studying the mechanoresponsive behaviors of the F-actin CSK and FAs in response to cell stretch has g...

1. Stretch-induced muscle injury results in the damage that causes reduced force and increased membrane permeability. This muscle damage is caused, in part, by ionic entry through stretch-activated channels and blocking these channels with Gd3+ or streptomycin reduces the force deficit associated with damage. 2. Dystrophin-deficient muscles are more susceptible to stretch-induced muscle injury ...

Mechanical stretch has been implicated in phenotypic changes as an adaptive response to stretch stress physically loaded in bladder smooth muscle cells (BSMCs). To investigate stretch-induced signaling, we examined the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family using rat primary BSMCs. When BSMCs were subjected to sustained mechanical stretch using collagen-coated silicon membranes, activat...

Transpulmonary pressure is thought to be closely associated with slowly adapting mechanoreceptor activity. The transpulmonary pressure required to inflate the lung to a given volume depends on pulmonary compliance: for equal tidal volumes less pressure will be required if compliance is higher. Therefore, an inverse relationship is expected between receptor activity and lung compliance for equal...

Slowly adapting pulmonary stretch receptors (SARs) respond to different lung inflation volumes with distinct spike counts and patterns, conveying information regarding the rate and depth of breathing to the cardiovascular and respiratory control systems. Previous studies demonstrated that SARs respond to repetitions of the same lung inflation faithfully, suggesting the possibility of modeling a...

Discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) plays potential roles in the regulation of collagen turnover mediated by smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis. How mechanical stretch affects the regulation of DDR2 in smooth muscle cells is not fully understood. We sought to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of regulation of DDR2 by cyclic stretch in smooth muscle cells. Rat vascular smooth ...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different modes of stretching within a pre-exercise warm-up on high-speed motor capacities important to soccer performance. Eighteen professional soccer players were tested for countermovement vertical jump, stationary 10-m sprint, flying 20-m sprint, and agility performance after different warm-ups consisting of static stretching, dynamic...

OBJECTIVES It is now well recognized that myocardial stretch can cause arrhythmias due to stretch-induced depolarizations. The effects of transient stretch applied during the various phases of the cardiac action potential have not been investigated. This study (1) examined the effects of short stretch pulses and sustained stretch on the monophasic action potential (MPA) repolarization time cour...