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Long Distance Conduction of Vasodilation: A Passive or Regenerative Process?
Author(s) -
HILL CARYL E.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
microcirculation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.793
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1549-8719
pISSN - 1073-9688
DOI - 10.1111/j.1549-8719.2012.00169.x
Subject(s) - vasodilation , microcirculation , regenerative process , calcium , anatomy , neuroscience , chemistry , biophysics , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , cardiology , regeneration (biology)
Please cite this paper as Hill CE. Long distance conduction of vasodilation: a passive or regenerative process? Microcirculation 19: 379‐390, 2012. Abstract The mechanism enabling coordination of the resistance of feed arteries with microcirculatory arterioles to rapidly regulate tissue blood flow in line with changes in metabolic demand has preoccupied scientists for a quarter of a century. As experiments uncovered the underlying electrical events, it was frequently questioned how vasodilation could conduct over long distances without appreciable attenuation. This perspective reviews the data pertinent to this phenomenon and provides evidence that this remarkable response could be made possible by a simple mechanism based on the steep relationship between membrane potential and calcium entry demonstrated by the voltage‐dependent calcium channels which mediate the control of vascular tone in vivo .