Endothelial cell serum and glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) mediates vascular stiffening.

Background: Excessive dietary salt intake increases vascular stiffness in humans, especially in salt-sensitive populations. While we recently suggested that the endothelial sodium channel (EnNaC) contributes to salt-sensitivity related endothelial cell (EC) and arterial stiffening, mechanistic understanding remains incomplete. This study therefore aimed to explore the role of EC-serum and glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 (SGK1), as a reported regulator of sodium channels, in EC and arterial stiffening.

Myosin light chain phosphorylation exhibits a gradient across the wall of cerebellar arteries under sustained ex vivo vascular tone.

Small blood vessel diseases are often associated with impaired regulation of vascular tone. The current understanding of resistance arteries often focuses on how a level of vascular tone is achieved in the acute phase, while less emphasis is placed on mechanisms that maintain vascular tone. In this study, cannulated rat superior cerebellar arteries (SCA) developed spontaneous myogenic tone and showed a marked and sustained constriction in the presence of diluted serum (10%), a stimulus relevant to cerebrovascular disease.