Journal
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR ENDOCRINOLOGY
Volume 177, Issue 1-2, Pages 135-143Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/S0303-7207(01)00407-5
Keywords
contraction; relaxation; heat-shock protein (HSP); cGMP; cAMP
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Vascular smooth muscle tone is controlled by a balance between the cellular signaling pathways that mediate the generation of force (contraction) and the release of force (relaxation). The signaling events that activate contraction include Ca2+-dependent myosin light chain phosphorylation. The signaling events that mediate relaxation include the removal of a contractile agonist (passive relaxation) and activation of cyclic nucleotide-dependent signaling pathways in the continued presence of a contractile agonist (active relaxation). The major questions that remain in contractile physiology include (1) how is tonic force maintained when intracellular Ca2+ levels and myosin light chain phosphorylation have returned to basal levels; and (2) what is the mechanism of cyclic nucleotide-dependent relaxation? This review focuses on these specific controversies surrounding the molecular mechanisms of contraction and relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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