Affiliations: Department of Pharmacology, University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422‐8526, Japan | Department of Neurosurgery, Hamamatsu University, School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431‐3192, Japan
Note: [] Address for correspondence: K. Nakayama, Dept. of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52‐1 Yada, Shizuoka 422‐8526, Japan. Tel.: +81 54 264 5694; Fax: +81 54 264 5696; E‐mail: [email protected]‐shizuoka‐ken.ac.jp.
Abstract: Blood vessels are always subjected to hemodynamic stresses including blood pressure and blood flow. The cerebral artery is particularly sensitive to hemodynamic stresses such as pressure and stretch, and shows contractions that are myogenic in nature; i.e., the mechanical response is generated by the vascular smooth muscle itself. The artery constricts in response to an increase in intraluminal pressure, and dilates in response to a decrease in the intraluminal pressure. We provide herein some insights into the mechanotransduction of vascular tissue; i.e., we discuss how the tissue is receptive to mechanical force and how the latter induces the specific signals leading to myogenic contraction in terms of mechanosensor action and subsequent intracellular signaling. The interactive role of tyrosine kinase, protein kinase C, and Rho/Rho‐kinase systems in the mechanotransduction process is discussed, which systems also seem to play an important role in the development of experimental cerebral vasospasm. The study of the mechanotransduction in vascular tissue may aid in clarifying the mechanisms underlying vasospastic episodes and pathologic remodeling in cardiovascular diseases, and may potentially have therapeutic consequences.
Keywords: Mechanotransduction, stretch‐induced contraction, cerebrovascular contraction, cerebral vasospasm, tyrosine kinase, protein kinase C isoforms, Rho/Rho‐kinase, myosin light‐chain phosphorylation, tyrosine phosphorylation
Journal: Biorheology, vol. 40, no. 1-3, pp. 307-314, 2003
