Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01185 (vasopressin)
 23,126 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Experiments were designed to determine the endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent responses to aggregating platelets in porcine pulmonary arteries. Isolated rings with and without endothelium from large (5-7-mm-diameter) and small (2-3-mm-diameter) pulmonary arteries were suspended in modified Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution bubbled with 95% O2-5% CO2 in the presence of indomethacin. Aggregating platelets caused relaxations in rings with endothelium but contractions in rings without endothelium, both of which were significantly larger in small versus large pulmonary artery rings. Serotonin and ADP caused concentration-dependent endothelium-augmented relaxations that were unaffected by ketanserin. Methiothepin, but not apyrase, significantly decreased the platelet-induced endothelium-dependent relaxations; the residual relaxation was abolished when rings were incubated with methiothepin, apyrase, and theophylline but was unaffected if apyrase was absent, indicating that ADP is responsible for the residual relaxation caused by aggregating platelets. Quiescent rings, with and without endothelium, contracted in a dose-dependent manner to norepinephrine and histamine but not to serotonin or vasopressin. The contraction to aggregating platelets was blocked by methiothepin, pyrilamine, and diphenhydramine but was unaffected by phentolamine, ketanserin, or incubation of the platelets with dazoxiben. These data indicate that, in large and small porcine pulmonary arteries, serotonin and ADP are the major contributors to the endothelium-dependent relaxation caused by aggregating platelets, while histamine appears to be responsible for the contraction that platelets cause in rings without endothelium.
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PMID:Heterogeneity of endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent responses to aggregating platelets in porcine pulmonary arteries. 201 1

Experiments were designed to determine the role of the endothelial cells and the metabolism of arachidonic acid in anoxic contractions of isolated canine basilar arteries. Rings, with and without endothelium, of these arteries were suspended for isometric tension recording; anoxia was induced by switching the mixture gassing the organ chamber from 95% O2-5% CO2 to 95% N2-5% CO2. In rings with endothelium, anoxia evoked increases in tension under basal conditions and during contractions to 5-hydroxytryptamine, uridine triphosphate, prostaglandin F2 alpha, and high K+. Under control conditions, these anoxic contractions were not prevented by alpha-adrenergic and serotonergic antagonists, by apyrase, or by inhibitors of cyclooxygenase. Anoxia prevented endothelium-dependent relaxations evoked by vasopressin and thrombin. In rings without endothelium, anoxia caused increases in tension during contractions evoked by various agonists, and in unstimulated preparations after inhibition of cyclooxygenase. Anoxic contractions were abolished by calcium entry blockers. These observations suggest that anoxic contractions of isolated canine basilar artery can be explained by the release of endothelium-derived contracting factor(s) and the accelerated entry of calcium in the smooth muscle cells, which possibly results from a diversion of arachidonic acid from the cyclooxygenase to the lipoxygenase pathway.
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PMID:Anoxic contractions in isolated canine cerebral arteries: contribution of endothelium-derived factors, metabolites of arachidonic acid, and calcium entry. 243 36

Intercellular communication among certain cell types can occur via ATP secretion, which leads to stimulation of nucleotide receptors on target cells. In epithelial cells, however, intercellular communication is thought to occur instead via gap junctions. Here we examined whether one epithelial cell type, hepatocytes, can also communicate via nucleotide secretion. The effects on cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) of mechanical stimulation, including microinjection, were examined in isolated rat hepatocytes and in isolated bile duct units using confocal fluorescence video microscopy. Mechanical stimulation of a single hepatocyte evoked an increase in [Ca2+]i in the stimulated cell plus an unexpected [Ca2+]i rise in neighboring noncontacting hepatocytes. Perifusion with ATP before mechanical stimulation suppressed the [Ca2+]i increase, but pretreatment with phenylephrine did not. The P2 receptor antagonist suramin inhibited these intercellular [Ca2+]i signals. The ATP/ADPase apyrase reversibly inhibited the [Ca2+]i rise induced by mechanical stimulation, and did not block vasopressin-induced [Ca2+]i signals. Mechanical stimulation of hepatocytes also induced a [Ca2+]i increase in cocultured isolated bile duct units, and this [Ca2+]i increase was inhibited by apyrase as well. Finally, this form of [Ca2+]i signaling could be elicited in the presence of propidium iodide without nuclear labeling by that dye, indicating that this phenomenon does not depend on disruption of the stimulated cell. Thus, mechanical stimulation of isolated hepatocytes, including by microinjection, can evoke [Ca2+]i signals in the stimulated cell as well as in neighboring noncontacting hepatocytes and bile duct epithelia. This signaling is mediated by release of ATP or other nucleotides into the extracellular space. This is an important technical consideration given the widespread use of microinjection techniques for examining mechanisms of signal transduction. Moreover, the evidence provided suggests a novel paracrine signaling pathway for epithelia, which previously were thought to communicate exclusively via gap junctions.
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PMID:Isolated rat hepatocytes can signal to other hepatocytes and bile duct cells by release of nucleotides. 879 Apr 37