Cardiac hyperactivity and its consequent metabolically induced coronary vasodilation (MCD) were studied in isolated, perfused, electrically paced rat hearts. The alpha-adrenoceptor agonists, phenylephrine and methoxamine, produced a concentration-dependent inhibition of the inotropic responses to noradrenaline, dobutamine, isoprenaline, tyramine, and glucagon, while relatively potentiating their MCD reactions. This inhibition was unrelated to the alpha-agonists' known inotropic action and was not affected by catecholamine depletion of the heart. Withdrawal of the alpha-agonists or administration of the alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists phentolamine, phenoxybenzamine, or prazosin returned the inotropic and MCD reactions to normal. Neither the MCD response to electrically induced tachycardia nor the inotropic reactions produced by calcium chloride were affected by alpha-adrenoceptor agonists or antagonists. Alone, alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists were shown to potentiate the inotropic responses to noradrenaline and isoprenaline while the MCD was relatively diminished. The responses to glucagon were unaltered by alpha-antagonists. We postulate that myocardial reactivity to sympathetic stimulation can be modulated through alpha-adrenoceptors by the inhibition of processes that mediate cardiostimulation at post-beta-adrenoceptor sites, together with facilitation of those leading up to MCD. Accordingly, this modulation would act to prevent ischaemic damage to the heart by acting to limit the inotropic responses to increasing sympathetic stimulation while maximizing the blood supply to the myocardium.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/y85-249 | DOI Listing |
J Gen Physiol
March 2025
Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (VGCCs) are highly expressed throughout numerous biological systems and play critical roles in synaptic transmission, cardiac excitation, and muscle contraction. To perform these various functions, VGCCs are highly regulated. Inactivation comprises a critical mechanism controlling the entry of Ca2+ through these channels and constitutes an important means to regulate cellular excitability, shape action potentials, control intracellular Ca2+ levels, and contribute to long-term potentiation and depression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurosci
January 2025
Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912
The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the linchpin of nerve-evoked muscle contraction. Broadly, the function of the NMJ is to transduce nerve action potentials into muscle fiber action potentials (MFAPs). Efficient neuromuscular transmission requires both cholinergic signaling, responsible for generation of endplate potentials (EPPs), and excitation, the amplification of the EPP by postsynaptic voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
December 2024
Department of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, JPN.
Purpose The infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) has the lowest pain threshold among all knee joint components and causes anterior knee pain after knee arthroplasty. It has been reported that selective muscle atrophy of the vastus medialis (VM) and fibrosis of the IFP may develop following knee joint surgery. Ultrasound enables visualization of IFP deformation (A1) from within the joint to the proximal area in response to muscle contraction, and this may be helpful in developing preventive and therapeutic strategies for IFP fibrosis.
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February 2025
Division of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Background: With a decline of 17β-estradiol (E2) at menopause, E2 has been implicated in the accompanied loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. We aimed at characterizing transcriptomic responses of skeletal muscle to E2 in female mice, testing the hypothesis that genes and pathways related to contraction and maintenance of mass are differentially expressed in ovariectomized mice with and without E2 treatment.
Methods: Soleus and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles from C57BL/6 ovariectomized mice treated with placebo (OVX) or E2 (OVX + E2) for 60 days, or from skeletal muscle-specific ERα knockout (skmERαKO) mice and wild-type littermates (skmERαWT), were used for genome-wide expression profiling, quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblotting.
Protein Sci
February 2025
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Proteins' flexibility is a feature in communicating changes in cell signaling instigated by binding with secondary messengers, such as calcium ions, associated with the coordination of muscle contraction, neurotransmitter release, and gene expression. When binding with the disordered parts of a protein, calcium ions must balance their charge states with the shape of calcium-binding proteins and their versatile pool of partners depending on the circumstances they transmit. Accurately determining the ionic charges of those ions is essential for understanding their role in such processes.
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