Abstract
Smooth muscle contractile agents cause large increases in crossbridge phosphorylation (Mp) and cycling rates resulting in the rapid development of stress (force/muscle cross-sectional area). Despite temporal declines in Mp and cycling during continued activation, stress is maintained at high levels. This observation led to several different hypotheses describing the regulation of steady-state stress. One proposal is that protein kinase C regulates stress maintenance, whereas another invokes a steady-state dependence on Ca+(+)-calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of stress-maintenance by analyzing the inhibitory efficacy of a protein kinase C inhibitor, H-7 [1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)-2-methylpiperizine], on steady-state values of stress, Mp and crossbridge cycling in rabbit renal and femoral arteries. H-7 effectively inhibited steady-state stress produced by KCl (IC50 = 3.7-4.4 microM) and phenylephrine (PhE) (IC50 = 10.6-15.2 microM). Likewise, increases in the level of Mp and the rate of crossbridge cycling induced by both KCl and PhE were significantly reduced by 10 microM H-7. H-7 did not reduce inositol phosphate production stimulated by PhE, but did reduce early stress development thought to be mediated by inositol phosphate-induced mobilization of intracellular calcium. Calcium-induced increases in stress and Mp produced in saponin-skinned artery strips were reduced by less than 50% by 320 microM H-7.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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