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Desensitization to cytoplasmic Ca2+ and Ca2+ sensitivities of guinea‐pig ileum and rabbit pulmonary artery smooth muscle.
Author(s) -
Himpens B,
Matthijs G,
Somlyo A P
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.1989.sp017665
Subject(s) - ileum , contracture , pulmonary artery , tonic (physiology) , medicine , depolarization , muscle contraction , chemistry , endocrinology , anatomy , biophysics , biology , genetics
1. The free cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration [( Ca2+]i) was measured in the tonic rabbit pulmonary artery and the phasic ileum smooth muscle. 2. Force development and [Ca2+]i were determined during either cumulative or non‐cumulative additions of [Ca2+]o to smooth muscles depolarized with 140 mM‐K+ solutions. 3. The level to which [Ca2+]i declined in Ca2+‐free, 140 mM‐K+ solutions was significantly lower in the ileum (40 +/‐ 4 nM) than in pulmonary artery (77 +/‐ 5 nM) smooth muscle. 4. The level of [Ca2+]i reached during non‐cumulative superfusion with 10 microM and 1 mM [Ca2+]o was higher in the pulmonary artery than in the ileum. 5. The force level reached for a given [Ca2+]i was also higher in the pulmonary artery than in the ileum. 6. During maintained depolarization there was a marked decrease in the sensitivity of ileum smooth muscle tension to [Ca2+]i. 7. We conclude that significant differences exist in the Ca2+ sensitivity of the regulatory/contractile apparatus among different smooth muscles; the lower sensitivity of depolarized ileum than pulmonary artery to [Ca2+]o is due to both differences in Ca2+ metabolism and in the Ca2+ sensitivity of the regulatory contractile system. We suggest that these two mechanisms also contribute to the decline in force during a phasic K+ contracture, and that desensitization to [Ca2+]i contributes to the decline of the K+ contracture in the ileum.