Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas are the first to use genetically engineered mice containing a fluorescent molecule to examine in real time the chemical reactions that result in ...

A new molecular pathway has been identified that is critical for maintaining the smooth muscle tone that allows the passage of materials through the digestive system. Researchers at UMass Medical ...

Activation of muscarinic receptors on the detrusor smooth muscle is followed by contraction, which involves both myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) and Rho kinase (ROCK). The aim of this study was to ...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 105, No. 47 (Nov. 25, 2008), pp. 18614-18618 (5 pages) ...

In vascular strips, the adjacent endothelial cells modulate the contraction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) induced by sphingosylphosphorylcholine (SPC) through nitric oxide (NO). The aim of ...

The mechanism of skeletal muscle contraction is a process that relies on calcium signaling. However, the physiological role of calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) through the ryanodine receptor ...

Researchers engineered mice with a mutation (E3896A) in the RyR1 calcium-binding site, eliminating calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) without affecting depolarization-induced calcium release. The ...

Mucous cell hyperplasia and airway smooth muscle (ASM) hyperresponsiveness are hallmark features of inflammatory airway diseases, including asthma. Here, we show that the recently identified ...

Muscle contraction is the tightening, shortening, or lengthening of muscles when you do some activity. It can happen when you hold or pick up something, or when you stretch or exercise with weights.

Current medical imaging technology misses important data regarding muscle contraction, including the ways in which a muscle's shape changes when it contracts, how the muscle bulges, and how its ...

Diabetes mellitus is associated with a spectrum of gastric emptying abnormalities, including transient slow gastric emptying, transient fast gastric emptying, persistent slow or delayed gastric ...