Airway smooth muscle tone increases actin filamentogenesis and contractile capacity.
Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
; 318(2): L442-L451, 2020 02 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31850799
ABSTRACT
Force adaptation of airway smooth muscle (ASM) is a process whereby the presence of tone (i.e., a sustained contraction) increases the contractile capacity. For example, tone has been shown to increase airway responsiveness in both healthy mice and humans. The goal of the present study is to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. The maximal force generated by mouse tracheas was measured in response to 10-4 M of methacholine following a 30-min period with or without tone elicited by the EC30 of methacholine. To confirm the occurrence of force adaptation at the cellular level, traction force generated by cultured human ASM cells was also measured following a similar protocol. Different pharmacological inhibitors were used to investigate the role of Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase (ROCK), protein kinase C (PKC), myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), and actin polymerization in force adaptation. The phosphorylation level of the regulatory light chain (RLC) of myosin, the amount of actin filaments, and the activation level of the actin-severing protein cofilin were also quantified. Although ROCK, PKC, MLCK, and RLC phosphorylation was not implicated, force adaptation was prevented by inhibiting actin polymerization. Interestingly, the presence of tone blocked the activation of cofilin in addition to increasing the amount of actin filaments to a maximal level. We conclude that actin filamentogenesis induced by tone, resulting from both actin polymerization and the prevention of cofilin-mediated actin cleavage, is the main molecular mechanism underlying force adaptation.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Traqueia
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Citoesqueleto de Actina
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Contração Muscular
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Músculo Liso
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Tono Muscular
Limite:
Animals
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
/
FISIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá