Smooth Muscle Phenotypic Diversity: Effect on Vascular Function and Drug Responses.

Smooth Muscle Phenotypic Diversity: Effect on Vascular Function and Drug Responses. Adv Pharmacol. 2017;78:383-415 Authors: Fisher SA Abstract At its simplest resistance to blood flow is regulated by changes in the state of contraction of the vascular smooth muscle (VSM), a function of the competing activities of the myosin kinase and phosphatase determining the phosphorylation and activity of the myosin ATPase motor protein. In contrast, the vascular system of humans and other mammals is incredibly complex and highly regulated. Much of this complexity derives from phenotypic diversity within the smooth muscle, reflected in very differing power outputs and responses to signaling pathways that regulate vessel tone, presumably having evolved over the millennia to optimize vascular function and its control. The highly regulated nature of VSM tone, described as pharmacomechanical coupling, likely underlies the many classes of drugs in clinical use to alter vascular tone through activation or inhibition of these signaling pathways. This review will first describe the phenotypic diversity within VSM, followed by presentation of specific examples of how molecular diversity in signaling, myofilament, and calcium cycling proteins impacts arterial smooth muscle function and drug responses. PMID: 28212802 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Advances in Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Adv Pharmacol Source Type: research