Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01178 (oxytocin)
 15,767 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A new potent vasodilator, nicardipine hydrochloride inhibited oxytocin-induced contraction of rat uterus dose-dependently with an increase in the intracellular cyclic AMP level at the onset of relaxation. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP and papaverine, an inhibitor of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (PDEase), also inhibited the contraction. Nicardipine inhibited competitively PDEase in homogenates of rat uterus which exhibited apparently two Km values for cyclic AMP (3.6 micro M and 67.3 micro M) with the Ki of 5.3 micro M and 13.2 micro M, respectively, but had no effect on adenylate cyclase. Nicardipine enhanced calcium uptake by rat uterine microsomes, at concentrations which inhibited oxytocin-induced contraction in the same manner as cyclic AMP. The maximal stimulation by nicardipine of the microsomal calcium uptake was identical substantially to that by cyclic AMP, and both were not additive. Cyclic AMP was also accumulated during the uptake reaction in the presence of nicardipine. On the contrary, neither myosin ATPase nor microsomal Ca2+-dependent ATPase was inhibited directly by nicardipine. These results suggest that the inhibition of oxytocin-induced contraction of rat uterus by nicardipine may be due to an enhancement of microsomal calcium uptake, mediated by cyclic AMP accumulated through the inhibition of PDEase.
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PMID:A possible mechanism for relaxation of rat uterine smooth muscle by nicardipine hydrochloride (YC-93), a new potent vasodilator. 627 30

Parturition results from the establishment of phasic regular uterine contractions. Contractility in myometrial smooth muscle is stimulated by an increase in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+i]) which activates myosin light chain phosphorylation leading to increased myosin ATPase activity and enhanced rate of acto-myosin cross bridge formation. G proteins play a pivotal role in smooth muscle activation and relaxation by coupling cell membrane receptors to effector enzymes and ion channels. G alpha(s) and G alpha(i) stimulate and inhibit adenylyl cyclase, respectively and control cAMP formation. G alpha(q) stimulates phospholipase C resulting in the formation of two second messengers: inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) which releases Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and 1,2-diacylglycerol which activates protein kinase C. The oxytocin receptor stimulates myometrial contractility by increasing [Ca2+i] through both pertussis toxin resistant (G alpha(q)) and pertussis toxin sensitive (?G alpha (i)) pathways. beta-Adrenoceptors and prostaglandin EP2 receptors promote relaxation via G alpha(s)-adenylyl cyclase. The concentration of myometrial oxytocin receptors is five-times higher in pregnant compared to non-pregnant myometrium but decreases in samples obtained during labour. When myometrial slices are challenged with oxytocin there is a rapid increase in InsP3 levels with a time course which is similar to the rise in [Ca2+i] provoked by oxytocin in cultured myometrial cells. The formation of InsP3 in response to oxytocin in myometrial tissue at term is similar in samples obtained before and after the onset of labour. G alpha(q) and G alpha(i) are expressed at similar levels in non-pregnant and in pregnant myometrium obtained before or during labour. By contract, G alpha(s) levels are higher in pregnant compared to non-pregnant myometrium and decrease in samples obtained during labor. These changes in G alpha(s) are paralleled by prostaglandin E2-induced adenylyl cyclase activity in the same tissues. Parturition may be the consequence of downregulation of pathways that favour uterine quiescence by increasing cAMP formation, resulting in a relative dominance of stimulatory receptors that increase InsP3/Ca2+ availability.
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PMID:Parturition: activation of stimulatory pathways or loss of uterine quiescence? 871 97