scholarly journals Peptidergic Innervation in the Cerebral Blood Vessels of the Guinea Pig: An Immunohistochemical Study

1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 819-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Nakakita

The distribution of peptidergic nerve fibers containing substance P (SP), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the cerebral arteries and veins of the guinea pig was studied using immunohistochemical techniques. The ultrastructure of these immunoreactive nerve terminals was also compared. The cerebral arteries were innervated by abundant peptidergic nerve fibers with characteristic running patterns, i.e., SP fibers in a meshwork, VIP and NPY fibers in a spiral fashion. Only CGRP fibers showed both meshwork and spiral patterns. In the cerebral veins, the abundant SP fibers innervated the cortical veins, deep cerebral veins, and dural sinuses. However, CGRP, VIP, and NPY fibers in extremely low density were noted merely in the cortical veins. Electron microscopic observations demonstrated that SP-immunoreactive nerve terminals existed apart from the arterial smooth muscle cells, while VIP- and NPY-immunoreactive nerve terminals adjoined them. As for CGRP nerve terminals, some existed close to the arterial smooth muscle cells, and others were found some distance from them. These morphological characteristics observed by light and electron microscopy suggest that SP fibers are not related directly to the vasomotor function, but VIP and NPY fibers are, and that CGRP fibers have a more complicated function. The distribution patterns of the peptidergic nerve fibers are consistent with the suggestion that vasomotor peptidergic fibers may function actively on cerebral arteries and passively on cerebral veins and that SP fibers regarded as sensory fibers may provide information regarding cerebral vascular conditions, innervating every part of both cerebral arteries and veins.

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (3) ◽  
pp. H1347-H1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Han ◽  
Nari Kim ◽  
Hyun Joo ◽  
Euiyong Kim

Although ketamine and Ca2+-activated K+ (KCa) channels have been implicated in the contractile activity regulation of cerebral arteries, no studies have addressed the specific interactions between ketamine and the KCa channels in cerebral arteries. The purpose of this study was to examine the direct effects of ketamine on KCa channel activities using the patch-clamp technique in single-cell preparations of rabbit middle cerebral arterial smooth muscle. We tested the hypothesis that ketamine modulates the KCa channel activity of the cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells of the rabbit. Vascular myocytes were isolated from rabbit middle cerebral arteries using enzymatic dissociation. Single KCa channel activities of smooth muscle cells from rabbit cerebral arteries were recorded using the patch-clamp technique. In the inside-out patches, ketamine in the micromolar range inhibited channel activity with a half-maximal inhibition of the ketamine conentration value of 83.8 ± 12.9 μM. The Hill coefficient was 1.2 ± 0.3. The slope conductance of the current-voltage relationship was 320.1 ± 2.0 pS between 0 and +60 mV in the presence of ketamine and symmetrical 145 mM K+. Ketamine had little effect on either the voltage-dependency or open- and closed-time histograms of KCa channel. The present study clearly demonstrates that ketamine inhibits KCa channel activities in rabbit middle cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells. This inhibition of KCa channels may represent a mechanism for ketamine-induced cerebral vasoconstriction.


2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (2) ◽  
pp. H1085-H1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin-Nan Wu ◽  
Kevin D. Luykenaar ◽  
Joseph E. Brayden ◽  
Wayne R. Giles ◽  
Randolph L. Corteling ◽  
...  

This study sought to define whether inward rectifying K+ (KIR) channels were modulated by vasoactive stimuli known to depolarize and constrict intact cerebral arteries. Using pressure myography and patch-clamp electrophysiology, initial experiments revealed a Ba2+-sensitive KIR current in cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells that was active over a physiological range of membrane potentials and whose inhibition led to arterial depolarization and constriction. Real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemical analyses established the expression of both KIR2.1 and KIR2.2 in cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells. Vasoconstrictor agonists known to depolarize and constrict rat cerebral arteries, including uridine triphosphate, U46619, and 5-HT, had no discernable effect on whole cell KIR activity. Control experiments confirmed that vasoconstrictor agonists could inhibit the voltage-dependent delayed rectifier K+ (KDR) current. In contrast to these observations, a hyposmotic challenge that activates mechanosensitive ion channels elicited a rapid and sustained inhibition of the KIR but not the KDR current. The hyposmotic-induced inhibition of KIR was 1) mimicked by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, a PKC agonist; and 2) inhibited by calphostin C, a PKC inhibitor. These findings suggest that, by modulating PKC, mechanical stimuli can regulate KIR activity and consequently the electrical and mechanical state of intact cerebral arteries. We propose that the mechanoregulation of KIR channels plays a role in the development of myogenic tone.


2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 1350-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Löhn ◽  
Birgit Lauterbach ◽  
Hermann Haller ◽  
Olaf Pongs ◽  
Friedrich C. Luft ◽  
...  

Mice with a disrupted β1(BKβ1)-subunit of the large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channel gene develop systemic hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy, which is likely caused by uncoupling of Ca2+ sparks to BK channels in arterial smooth muscle cells. However, little is known about the physiological levels of global intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and its regulation by Ca2+ sparks and BK channel subunits. We utilized a BKβ1 knockout C57BL/6 mouse model and studied the effects of inhibitors of ryanodine receptor and BK channels on the global [Ca2+]i and diameter of small cerebral arteries pressurized to 60 mmHg. Ryanodine (10 μM) or iberiotoxin (100 nM) increased [Ca2+]i by ∼75 nM and constricted +/+ BKβ1 wild-type arteries (pressurized to 60 mmHg) with myogenic tone by ∼10 μm. In contrast, ryanodine (10 μM) or iberiotoxin (100 nM) had no significant effect on [Ca2+]i and diameter of −/− BKβ1-pressurized (60 mmHg) arteries. These results are consistent with the idea that Ca2+ sparks in arterial smooth muscle cells limit myogenic tone through activation of BK channels. The activation of BK channels by Ca2+ sparks reduces the voltage-dependent Ca2+ influx and [Ca2+]i through tonic hyperpolarization. Deletion of BKβ1 disrupts this negative feedback mechanism, leading to increased arterial tone through an increase in global [Ca2+]i.


1992 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Tetsuzo Wakatsuki ◽  
Yutaka Nakaya ◽  
Yukiko Miyoshi ◽  
Zeng Xiao-Rong ◽  
Masahiro Nomura ◽  
...  

Cell Calcium ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Halidi ◽  
François-Xavier Boittin ◽  
Jean-Louis Bény ◽  
Jean-Jacques Meister

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