Electrical dynamics of isolated cerebral and skeletal muscle endothelial tubes: Differential roles of G-protein-coupled receptors and K channels.

Electrical dynamics of freshly isolated cerebral endothelium have not been determined independently of perivascular nerves and smooth muscle. We tested the hypothesis that endothelium of cerebral and skeletal muscle arteries differentially utilizes purinergic and muscarinic signaling pathways to activate endothelium-derived hyperpolarization. Changes in membrane potential () were recorded in intact endothelial tubes freshly isolated from posterior cerebral and superior epigastric arteries of male and female C57BL/6 mice (age: 3-8 months).