Contractile responsiveness of aortic rings from control and endotoxin-shocked guinea pigs was examined in vitro. Aortae were removed 16 h following intraperitoneal administration of 4 mg/kg of Escherichia coli endotoxin or sterile saline. Although no shift in the dose-response curve or maximal contraction to norepinephrine (10(-9)-10(-4) M) was observed, there was an enhanced contractile response to KCl in shock rings. Calcium dose-response curves in both 60 mM and normal (5.4 mM) KCl were shifted upward in shock rings. This upward shift was abolished in normal KCl in the presence of the Ca2+ blocker D 600 (50 microM), suggesting enhanced Ca2+ influx via voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in shock vascular smooth muscle. A deleterious effect of high cytoplasmic Ca2+ on vascular smooth muscle mitochondrial function may play a role in endotoxin shock.
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Mod Pathol
January 2025
Department of Pathology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115 USA. Electronic address:
Soft tissue tumors with smooth muscle differentiation are rare in pediatric patients. Despite often showing morphologic features sufficient for classification as "leiomyosarcoma" in adults (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovasc Toxicol
January 2025
Department of Cadre Ward, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, No. 23, Postal Street, Harbin, 150001, Heilongjiang, PR China.
Atherosclerosis risk is elevated in diabetic patients, but the underlying mechanism such as the involvement of macrophages remains unclear. Here, we investigated the underlying mechanism related to the pro-inflammatory activation of macrophages in the development of diabetic atherosclerosis. Bioinformatics tools were used to analyze the macrophage-related transcriptome differences in patients with atherosclerosis and diabetic mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChin Med J (Engl)
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric & Gynecologic Diseases, Beijing 100730, China.
Background: Fibrosis of the connective tissue in the vaginal wall predominates in pelvic organ prolapse (POP), which is characterized by excessive fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation and abnormal deposition of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Our study aimed to investigate the effect of ECM stiffness on vaginal fibroblasts and to explore the role of methyltransferase 3 (METTL3) in the development of POP.
Methods: Polyacrylamide hydrogels were applied to create an ECM microenvironment with variable stiffness to evaluate the effects of ECM stiffness on the proliferation, differentiation, and expression of ECM components in vaginal fibroblasts.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a crucial component in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of peritoneal metastasis (PM), where they contribute to tumor progression and metastasis via secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Here, we investigated the role of IL-6 in PM of gastric cancer (GC) and assessed whether anti-IL-6 receptor antibody (anti-IL-6R Ab) could inhibit PM of GC. We conducted immunohistochemical analysis of IL-6 and α-smooth muscle (α-SMA) expressions in clinical samples of GC and PM, and investigated the interactions between CAFs and GC cells in vitro.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn, 10-748, Olsztyn, Poland.
Mares with endometrosis exhibit histological changes not only in the endometrium but also in the myometrium that suggest possible functional impairment. The molecular background of these changes is not well understood. We hypothesize that the transcriptomic profile of the mare myometrium varies depending on the degree of endometrosis in mares.
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