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Query: UMLS:C0403608 (ureter)
 9,655 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

For the study of airway responsiveness in vitro, airway segments have important advances over strip or spiral preparations. The method to study isobaric contraction of segments is not well established. The aim of this work was to develop a model to assess the smooth muscle responses in isolated airway segments under isobaric conditions. We developed a microplethysmograph with a volume measurement range of 10 to 700 microL, a resolution of 0.02-0.4 microL, and a drift of 2.6-0.7% of measurement range min(-1) for its most and least sensitive setting, respectively. The plethysmograph is able to compensate for the pressure changes induced by the volume changes, enabling for true isobaric measurements. We show examples of the isobaric contraction and relaxation of isolated human airway segments after stimulation of an airway segment by methacholine, isoprenaline, or electrical field stimulation. Apart from studying airway responses, the micro-plethysmograph is potentially useful to study the contractile properties of watertight and hollow structures like blood vessels, gut, and ureter. In addition, this device can be used to measure leak or diffusion at any transmural pressure.
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PMID:The micro-plethysmograph: a new device to measure small volume displacements by isolated human airway segments. 992 May 29

The evidence for release of vasoactive substances from endothelial cells in response to shear stress caused by the viscous drag of passing fluids is reviewed and, in particular, its physiological significance both in short-term regulation of blood vessel tone and in long-term regulation of cell growth, differentiation, proliferation, and cell death in pathophysiological conditions is discussed. A new concept of purinergic mechanosensory transduction, particularly in relation to nociception, is introduced. It is proposed that distension of tubes (including ureter, vagina, salivary and bile ducts, gut) and sacs (including urinary and gall bladders, and lung) leads to release of ATP from the lining epithelium, which then acts on P2X2/3 receptors on subepithelial sensory nerves to convey information to the CNS.
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PMID:Release of vasoactive substances from endothelial cells by shear stress and purinergic mechanosensory transduction. 1038 71

The expression and function of thrombomodulin (TM), an endothelial cofactor protein for thrombin-mediated protein C activation, in the epithelium are not fully characterized. This report describes the distribution and localization of TM in the various types of epithelia in the rat by light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. TM showed a limited distribution and was expressed by the keratinizing stratified epithelia of the skin, tongue, and esophagus, but was not present on the non-keratinizing epithelia of the vagina, ureter, trachea, stomach, or gut. An identical pattern of TM expression was seen in mucocutaneous junctions, transitional zones from a non-keratinizing stratified epithelium to a keratinizing epithelium at the edge of the eyelid and in the anal canal. As the keratinization of the stratified epithelia proceeded, the staining intensity increased in the transitional zones. Within the keratinizing stratified epithelia, TM staining was limited to the keratinocytes of the spinous layer, the spinous cells. The subcellular localization of TM on the spinous cells was restricted to the plasma membrane facing the intercellular spaces. TM was not detectable on the desmosomes or the two membranes making up the junction, presumably the nexus. The functional significance of TM in keratinizing epithelia is discussed.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical localization of thrombomodulin in the stratified epithelium of the rat is restricted to the keratinizing epidermis. 1065 Oct 93

Receptor subtypes for purines have been identified in a variety of tissues, increasing interest in the roles of purine-mediated signalling in pathophysiological processes. Growing evidence supports the involvement of one of the purinoceptor subtypes, P2X3, in nociception. In this article, recent studies of purine-mediated nociception and visceral pain will be discussed. Furthermore, a novel hypothesis is proposed for purine-mediated mechanosensory transduction where ATP released during distension from epithelial cells lining tubes (such as ureter and gut) and sacs (such as the bladder) acts on P2X3 receptors on a subepithelial nerve plexus to initiate impulses that are relayed via the spinal cord to pain centres in the brain.
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PMID:Purine-mediated signalling in pain and visceral perception. 1128 18

Epithelial-mesenchymal tissue interactions play a central role in vertebrate organogenesis, but the molecular mediators and mechanisms of these morphogenetic interactions are still not well characterized. We report here on the expression pattern of Wnt-2b during mouse organogenesis and on tests of its function in epithelial- mesenchymal interactions during kidney development. Wnt-2b is expressed in numerous developing organs in the mouse embryo, including the kidney, lung, salivary gland, gut, pancreas, adrenal gland, and genital tubercle. Additional sites of expression include the branchial arches and craniofacial placodes such as the eye and ear. The data suggest that the expression of Wnt-2b is associated with organs regulated by epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. It is typically localized in the capsular epithelium or peripheral mesenchymal cells of organ rudiments, e.g., the perinephric mesenchymal cells in the region of the presumptive renal stroma in the developing kidney at E11.5. Functional studies of the kidney demonstrate that cells expressing Wnt-2b are not capable of inducing tubule formation but instead stimulate ureter development. Incubation of isolated ureteric buds on such cells supports bud growth and branching. In addition, recombination of Wnt-2b-pretreated ureteric bud tissue with isolated nephrogenic mesenchyme results in a recovery of organogenesis and the expression of epithelial genes within the reconstituted organ explant. Lithium, a known activator of Wnt signaling (Hedgepeth et al. [1997] Dev Biol 185:82-91), is also sufficient to promote ureter branching in the reconstituted kidney in a comparable manner to Wnt-2b signaling, whereas Wnt-4, which induces tubules, neither supports the growth of a ureteric bud nor leads to reconstitution of the ureteric bud with the kidney mesenchyme. We conclude that Wnt-2b may act in the mouse kidney as an early mesenchymal signal controlling morphogenesis of epithelial tissue, and that the Wnt pathway may regulate ureter branching directly. In addition, Wnt signals in the kidney differ qualitatively and are specific to either the epithelial ureteric bud or the kidney mesenchyme.
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PMID:Induction of ureter branching as a response to Wnt-2b signaling during early kidney organogenesis. 1150 67

The existence of a pacemaker system in the urinary tract capable of orchestrating the movement of filtrated urine from the ureteral pelvis to the distal ureter and lower urinary tract seems intuitive. The coordinated activity necessary for such movement or "peristalsis" would likely require an intricate network of cells with pacemaker-like activity, as is the case with the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) of the gut. We investigated whether these putative pacemaker cells of the urinary tract are antigenically similar to ICC of the gut by using immunofluorescence staining for c-kit, a cell-surface marker specific for ICC. Ureteral, urinary bladder, and urethral tissues were harvested from female mice of the WBB6F1 strain, and fixed sections were prepared and stained for c-kit. Cell networks composed of stellate-appearing, c-kit-positive, ICC-like cells were found in the lamina propria and at the interface of the inner longitudinal and outer circular muscle layers of the ureteral pelvis but not in the urinary bladder or urethra. Thus, like in the gut, c-kit-positive, ICC-like cells are present in the urinary tract but appear to be restricted to the proximal ureter of this murine species.
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PMID:Identification of c-kit-positive cells in the mouse ureter: the interstitial cells of Cajal of the urinary tract. 1254 Mar 63

The action of chromatographically pure crystalline muscarine chloride, prepared from Amanita muscaria, has been compared with acetylcholine chloride (ACh) on a number of different organs from a variety of species. Muscarine caused spasm in vivo and in vitro of muscles of the gut, uterus, urinary bladder, and bronchus. It also caused contraction of the horse ureter and carotid artery chain in vitro and slowed the isolated auricles of the guinea-pig and rabbit, and the frog heart.Muscarine caused a drop in blood pressure, although in vitro it produced either constriction or dilatation of the blood vessels of the rabbit ear.All these actions resembled those of acetylcholine, though muscarine was usually more potent. Muscarine effects were readily prevented by atropine sulphate. It had a slight action on the frog rectus abdominis muscle, causing a contracture at high concentrations. Muscarine was destroyed neither by pepsin nor by boiling at any pH. It was inactive by mouth in a monkey in a quantity many times that which would cause poisoning by ingestion of Amanita muscaria in the human being. Muscarine neither inhibited nor was hydrolysed by either true- or pseudo-cholinesterase. Muscarine chloride did not cause paralysis of the neuromuscular junctions of the rat diaphragm or of the cat gastrocnemius.
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PMID:Pharmacological actions of pure muscarine chloride. 1341 51

Transport of the prototypical organic cation tetraethylammonium (TEA) by the Malpighian tubules, ureters and gut of Drosophila melanogaster was studied using two novel electrophysiological techniques. Both techniques exploited the high selectivity of the cation exchanger potassium tetra-p-chlorophenylborate for tetraalkylammonium compounds relative to inorganic cations such as K(+). In the first technique, TEA fluxes were measured using a non-invasive self-referencing TEA-selective microelectrode positioned in the unstirred layer near the surface of each tissue. TEA fluxes from bath to lumen as large as 6 pmol cm(-2) s(-1) were measured across the lower (reabsorptive) segment of the Malpighian tubule and the ureter bathed in saline containing 0.1 mmol l(-1) TEA. Corresponding bath-to-lumen fluxes across the secretory main segment of the Malpighian tubule and the posterior midgut were approximately 1 pmol cm(-2) s(-1). TEA transport by the lower Malpighian tubule was enhanced by hyperpolarization of the basolateral membrane potential and was inhibited by cimetidine, quinidine, vinblastine and verapamil. In the second technique, TEA concentration was measured using a TEA-selective microelectrode positioned in droplets of fluid secreted by Malpighian tubules set up in saline droplets under oil in a Ramsay assay. Results from the Ramsay assay confirmed the dominant role of the lower Malpighian tubule in net transepithelial secretion of TEA and inhibition of TEA transport by cimetidine. Kinetic parameters (J(max) and K(t)) were determined using both approaches.
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PMID:Organic cation transport by Malpighian tubules of Drosophila melanogaster: application of two novel electrophysiological methods. 1514 49

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) play an important role in the control of gut motility. The recognition that the ICC cell membrane harbors the c-kit receptor (CD117) sparked rapid advancement in ICC research on the gut and certain pathologies using immunochemical and molecular methods. The question arises whether ICC exist in the upper urinary tract (UUT) and trigger motility. The present study analyzed the distribution of the c-kit receptor in the normal human UUT compared with various species. Immunohistochemistry (alkaline-phosphatase-anti-alkaline-phosphatase technique, immunofluorescence) was applied on serial sections using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies recognizing the c-kit receptor. C-kit staining was compared with standard endothelial, epithelial, neurogenic, histiocytic, mast cell, and smooth muscle markers, as well as a negative control. Normal proximal, middle, and distal ureter segments were analyzed in rodents, carnivores, porcines, cow, and humans. In all species the c-kit receptor was detected in either round or spindle-shaped cells. Because of their antigenic profile, the round cells were identified as mast cells occurring in all layers of the ureteral wall except the urothelium and were more frequent in humans. In contrast, the population of spindle-shaped cells was marked only by anti-c-kit receptor antibodies, thus resembling ICC. These ICC-like cells were found among the inner and outer smooth muscle layers and in the lamina propria of all species. In humans, spindle-shaped cells were also found vertically oriented within the urothelium. Our morphological data present for the first time the distribution of ICC in the UUT of various species. The ubiquitous distribution in the entire pyeloureteral complex provides strong evidence that ICC generate electrical pacemaker activity within the UUT as an intrinsic system. Animal studies may help to understand the physiological importance of these ICC-like cells. The significance of these findings needs to be evaluated by functional studies and investigations of certain congenital pathologies with disturbance of the urinary outflow.
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PMID:Cajal-like cells in the upper urinary tract: comparative study in various species. 1565 10

Since few studies have examined cold tolerance at the organ level in insects, our primary objective was to characterize the functional responses of the gut and Malpighian tubules (MT) to seasonal acclimatization, chilling and freezing in larvae of the goldenrod gall fly Eurosta solidaginis Fitch (Diptera, Tephritidae). From September to December, hemolymph osmolality (455-926 mOsmol kg l(-1)) and freezing tolerance increased markedly in field-collected larvae. Chlorophenol Red was readily transported into the lumen of the foregut, the posterior portion of the midgut, the ureter, the proximal region of the anterior pair of MT, and entire posterior pair of MT. Ouabain and KCN inhibited transport of Chlorophenol Red in the gut and MT. Transport was readily detected at 0 degrees C and the rate of transport was directly related to temperature. The rate of fluid transport by the MT decreased steadily from a monthly high in September (10.7+/-0.8 nl min(-1) for the anterior pair; 12.7+/-1.0 nl min(-1) for the posterior pair) until secretion was no longer detectable in December; this decrease parallels entry into diapause for this species. Even in larvae that died following freezing for 40 days at -20 degrees C, individual organ function was retained to a limited extent. Through the autumn, cholesterol concentrations in the hemolymph increased nearly fourfold. In contrast, the ratio of cholesterol to protein content (nmol mg l(-1)) in the MT membrane remained relatively constant (22 approximately 24 nmol mg l(-1) protein) during this period. Freezing of larvae for 20 days at -20 degrees C caused a significant decrease in cholesterol levels in the hemolymph and the MT membranes compared to unfrozen controls. These results suggest that cholesterol plays a role in seasonal cold hardening and freeze tolerance in insects.
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PMID:Changes in gut and Malpighian tubule transport during seasonal acclimatization and freezing in the gall fly Eurosta solidaginis. 1587 70


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